What Does an ADHD Evaluation Actually Cost in Washington?

Almost no ADHD practice in Washington publishes what it charges, which is strange, because it is the first thing anyone wants to know. So people call five offices, get five numbers that are not comparable, and conclude the market is arbitrary.

It is not arbitrary. It is that three genuinely different things share the same name.

Three Different Products, One Phrase

A psychiatric evaluation with medication management. A clinical interview covering developmental history, current symptoms, and what else could explain them, usually with standardized rating scales, followed by prescribing if that is where the assessment lands. Done by a physician, a physician assistant, or an ARNP. In Washington, one telehealth psychiatry practice publishes a self-pay rate of $300 for a 60 to 90 minute initial evaluation and $175 for follow-up medication management, while also being in network with several major Washington plans.¹ That shape is the least expensive route to treatment, and for a straightforward presentation it is often the right one.

A psychological or neuropsychological testing battery. Hours of standardized cognitive testing, collateral interviews, scoring, interpretation, and a long written report. This is what people usually picture when they say "I want to get tested." In the Seattle and Bellevue area, one private-pay testing practice publishes $3,390 for a comprehensive ADHD-only evaluation, describing roughly 1.5 hours of clinical interview, an hour of collateral interview, four to six hours of test administration, and four to six hours of analysis and report writing.² Another Seattle practice publishes $450 to $600 for a brief ADHD assessment and $600 to $1,200 for a comprehensive psychological assessment, and is in network with several plans.³ Testing practices generally cannot prescribe, so the report is a starting point rather than a treatment plan.

A structured program that combines both. A full psychiatric evaluation, an objective attention measure, and a defined sequence of medication trials with follow-up built in rather than billed as it goes. Clarity ADHD sits here at $1,099 for the 5-visit program, about 7 weeks start to finish, which covers the intake, the QbTest, the results and diagnosis visit, and three follow-ups.

The spread from $300 to $3,390 is not a quality gradient. It tracks hours of clinician time and whether a treating relationship is included.

Why the Cheapest Option Is Not Always the Wrong One, or the Right One

If your history is reasonably clear and what you need is an accurate diagnosis and someone to manage medication carefully, a psychiatric evaluation is the efficient answer, and paying for six hours of neuropsychological testing buys you precision you were not short of.

Testing earns its cost in specific situations: when a learning disorder or a memory problem is genuinely in question, when the picture is tangled enough that separating ADHD from the conditions that imitate it needs more than an interview, or when you need formal documentation for academic or workplace accommodations. Objective attention testing sits between the two. It measures real things and, as the evidence stands, it cannot diagnose ADHD on its own.

What Insurance Actually Changes

Less than people expect, and in a specific direction.

An in-network visit is cheaper only after your deductible is met. Most high-deductible plans require you to pay the first several thousand dollars of care yourself, so before that point the honest comparison is not cash pay versus free. It is cash pay versus paying a broadly similar amount and still waiting for a panel to open. HSA and FSA dollars work for either, and they are pre-tax.

Cash-pay practices generally provide a superbill, an itemized receipt with diagnosis and procedure codes that you can submit yourself for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Whether anything comes back depends entirely on your plan, and it is worth calling your insurer to ask before you assume either way.

The Number Nobody Quotes

Every published price above is for the evaluation. None of them is what ADHD treatment costs, because treatment does not end at diagnosis.

Stimulants are Schedule II controlled substances, and federal law is blunt about it: "The refilling of a prescription for a controlled substance listed in Schedule II is prohibited."⁴ Washington law says the same and adds that a Schedule II prescription cannot be filled more than six months after the date it was written.⁵ There is no arrangement in which you get diagnosed once and collect medication indefinitely. You need a prescriber, on an ongoing basis, for as long as you are treated.

So the question to ask any practice is not what the evaluation costs. It is what a year of care costs. At Clarity ADHD, ongoing visits are $175 and most established patients are seen every one to three months, which works out to roughly $700 a year after the program. Ask every practice you call for their equivalent number. Some will not have thought about it, which is itself informative.

What to Ask Before You Book

Five questions, and you can ask all of them on a free consultation call.

Does this evaluation come with a prescriber, or does it end with a report? What is the total for everything you would recommend, not just the first visit? What does a typical year of follow-up cost? Do you provide superbills, and do you take HSA and FSA? And if I turn out not to have ADHD, what happens next, and is any of it refundable?

That last one matters more than it sounds. A practice that has a real answer for the patient who does not have ADHD is a practice that is actually evaluating rather than confirming.

A Note on These Figures

Every price above was published by the practice itself and checked in September 2026. Prices change, and none of these practices has any relationship with Clarity ADHD. Verify current fees directly before you make a decision. Our own are on the pricing page, including what happens after the program, and if the cost does not work for your situation, say so on the consultation call. We would rather point you somewhere else than take a deposit from someone who cannot sustain the care.

If you are already diagnosed and are simply trying not to lose access, the arithmetic is different and simpler. Transferring care is one visit, not the full 5-visit program.

References
1. ATC Psychiatry, Washington telehealth psychiatry. Published self-pay rates: atcpsychiatry.com/rates. Accessed September 2, 2026.
2. Sunburst Psychology, Seattle and Bellevue, Washington. Published ADHD testing fees: sunburstpsych.com/adhd-testing. Accessed September 2, 2026.
3. MEND Seattle, Seattle, Washington. Published psychological assessment fees: mendseattle.com/psychological-assessments. Accessed September 2, 2026.
4. 21 CFR 1306.12, Refilling prescriptions; issuance of multiple prescriptions. United States Code of Federal Regulations.
5. RCW 69.50.308, Prescriptions. Revised Code of Washington.

The content on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.