CPT code 97129: Cognitive therapy, initial 15 minutes2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Virginia

In Virginia, Medicare pays $22.19 for 97129 in the office and $19.56 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 97129 nationwide

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 97129 covers

This service covers one-on-one treatment to improve or compensate for cognitive difficulties that interfere with everyday tasks. Occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists commonly use structured activities and functional tasks to address attention, memory, reasoning, problem solving, organization, or sequencing. Treatment may follow a stroke or traumatic brain injury, for example, when cognitive limitations affect a patient’s ability to manage a schedule or complete a multistep task. It is furnished in settings such as an outpatient rehabilitation clinic or skilled nursing facility.

Report 97129 for the initial 15 minutes of direct cognitive intervention with the individual patient. The note should identify the cognitive limitation, functional goal, treatment activity or compensatory strategy, skilled therapist involvement, time, and patient response. For additional treatment time, 97130 is the related add-on code; it represents each additional 15-minute increment. Choose this service for cognitive intervention rather than exercise for strength or range of motion, balance or coordination retraining, or a cognitive evaluation without treatment.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

How Virginia compares for 97129

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 97129 runs from $21.46 in Arkansas to $30.93 in Alaska. Virginia pays $22.19. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

97129 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

See 97129 in every payment locality

How the 97129 rate is calculated

Each of 97129’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 97129

97129 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

Codes related to 97129

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 97129 has changed in Virginia

Price 97129 for an earlier date of service

Where the Virginia rate applies

Virginia is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 628 cities and communities in Virginia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abbs Valley
• Abingdon
• Accomac
• Adwolf
• Afton
• Alberta
• Aldie
• Allison Gap

Browse all communities in Virginia

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates