Telehealth Modifiers for Therapy: 95, 93, GT and POS 02 vs 10

Modifier 95 marks a service delivered live over audio and video. In Novitas's Medicare modifier guide it is defined as a synchronous telemedicine service rendered through a real-time interactive audio and video telecommunications system. Payers differ on whether they require it in addition to the place of service code, so check each payer's telehealth policy.

Worked example: a client in weekly therapy joins a 55 minute video session from their living room. The therapist reports CPT 90837 with modifier 95 (if the payer asks for it) and POS 10, because the client was at home. The note records that the session was by live video, where the client was, and the start and stop times.

Modifier 93 marks a live audio-only service. The CMS telehealth booklet (December 2025) says audio-only technology may be used for behavioral and mental health telehealth when the patient is in their home. Novitas lists the Medicare conditions: the client is at home and does not have the technical capacity for video, or does not consent to video.

Worked example: a Medicare client at home cannot get video to work, so the 45 minute session continues by phone. The therapist reports CPT 90834 with modifier 93 and POS 10, and the note states why video was not used (here, the client had no working video connection).

GT is the older audio-video telehealth modifier. For Medicare, the CMS booklet and the Novitas guide both limit it to distant site practitioners billing under the critical access hospital (CAH) optional payment Method II, on institutional claims. Professional claims from a private practice do not use GT for Medicare.

Worked example: a psychologist who has reassigned billing rights to a CAH that elected Method II provides a 45 minute video session. The CAH bills the institutional claim for 90834 with GT. A therapist in private practice seeing the same client by video would use modifier 95 and a telehealth place of service code instead. Other payers set their own rules, so follow the payer's written instructions when they differ.

The CMS place of service code set defines POS 10 as telehealth provided in the patient's home, where home means a private residence and not a hospital or other facility, and POS 02 as telehealth provided other than in the patient's home. The code describes where the client is, not where the therapist is. The CMS booklet says that since January 1, 2024, professional claims use POS 02 or POS 10.

Worked example for POS 02: a teenager joins a video session from a private room at their school counseling office. The client is not at home, so the claim uses POS 02 with CPT 90832 or the code that matches the time, plus modifier 95 if the payer requires it. If the same client joins from home the next week, the claim uses POS 10.

FQ means the service was furnished using audio-only technology. Novitas notes it can only be used by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers, which may report either 93 or FQ for audio-only services.

Worked example: an FQHC behavioral health clinician provides a mental health visit by phone to a client at home. The FQHC follows its Medicare billing instructions and adds FQ or 93 to show the visit was audio-only.

• The CMS booklet describes an in-person visit requirement for mental health telehealth, with exceptions in the regulation. Its effective date has changed over time, so check the CMS telehealth page for the current status before relying on it.
• For CY 2026, CMS added multiple family group psychotherapy (CPT 90849) to the Medicare telehealth services list, and says services added to the list are now permanent.
• Medicare pays RHCs and FQHCs for behavioral and mental health telehealth under their usual payment methods, per the same booklet.
• Commercial and Medicaid plans set their own modifier and place of service rules. When a payer's written policy differs from Medicare, follow the payer.