Final Medicare Payments for Outpatient Therapy in 2026

On October 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule. This final rule does have regulatory and reimbursement implications for outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy provided in all outpatient therapy settings.

In this article, I will provide my members with the payment amounts for calendar year 2026 for the more common CPT codes billed in outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy compared to the 2025 payment rate for each CPT code. For my examples, I used the national payment averages for each CPT code. Based on the location of your clinic/organization, your payment may be higher or lower than the national average.

In addition, remember that some state Medicaid programs, workers compensation carriers, and commercial insurance carriers base their reimbursement on a percentage of the Medicare allowed amount for each CPT code. This means if a CPT code increases or decreases in Medicare reimbursement in 2026, this could impact Medicaid, workers compensation, and commercial insurance carriers that base their payment on a percentage of the Medicare allowed amount.