How Much Does Speech Therapy Cost, and What Does Insurance Cover?

How much does speech therapy cost?

Quick answer: Insurance usually covers speech therapy in the hospital, and outpatient therapy up to your plan's visit limits or copays. Medicare Part B covers medically necessary outpatient speech therapy, and you pay 20% after the deductible. Private-pay therapy runs about $100 to $300 a session, depending on your area and the therapist's specialty.

Start now: Therapy is expensive, so learn about and gather all the resources you can for practice at home. You can try free naming practice right now →

In the hospital

Hopefully you have health insurance, and they'll probably cover what you get at the hospital. With Medicare, that's under Part A.

Outpatient therapy

Then there's outpatient. Look at your speech therapy benefits. They'll probably have a max number of sessions per year, or a copay. Some insurances, like Medicare, cover speech therapy as long as you fit the requirements. It has to require the skill of a therapist. It can't be the same exercises over and over, because then we could just tell you what to do and you could go do it. Insurance restricts what you get. More on insurance limits in [How Much Speech Therapy Do You Need to Recover From Aphasia?](https://aphasiastudio.com/aphasia-intensive-practice-at-home/)

Private pay

Private-pay speech therapy depends on your area. Some therapists charge $100 a session, some $200 or $300. That's probably the max. It depends on your area, the therapist, and their specialty.

In other words, it's expensive. Most people can't do ongoing one-on-one therapy.

Stretch your therapy with home practice

So look for resources. While you have your speech therapist, ask them what they're doing, what you can do, and where they can point you.

Then look for your own: Aphasia Studio, the Tactus Therapy apps, Constant Therapy. Build a home exercise program so you can keep practicing.

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What Medicare says

Medicare Part B covers medically necessary outpatient speech therapy when your doctor certifies you need it. After your Part B deductible, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount. There's no yearly limit on what Medicare pays for medically necessary outpatient speech therapy.

Sources

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