{"id":18672,"date":"2020-04-24T14:04:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T19:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thepapergown.zocdoc.com\/?p=18672"},"modified":"2023-03-21T14:50:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T19:50:33","slug":"how-does-insurance-work-for-video-visits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/guides\/how-does-insurance-work-for-video-visits\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Insurance Work for Video Visits?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To encourage patients with nonurgent health issues to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, private insurance companies as well as the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) have temporarily relaxed their rules for<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> telehealth coverage. Right now, more patients have access to video visits than ever before, and in many cases, this virtual care is free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the specific rules depend on which insurance plan you have, so it can be tricky to figure out which tele-services are covered and how much you\u2019ll end up paying to see a doctor on your laptop screen. It\u2019s also still unclear exactly how the current coverage rules will change once we\u2019re past the worst of the pandemic. <\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Either way, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video visits are becoming the norm for many patients, so it\u2019s important to stay on top of how they\u2019re being covered. \u201cWe crossed a threshold,\u201d says Shawn Martin, senior vice president and CEO designee at the American Academy of Family Physicians. \u201cAcceptance of telehealth as a service is going to be richer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Martin says most new rules surrounding telehealth are likely a short-term strategy, with regulations remaining loosened through the end of the 2020 calendar year. \u201cIt depends on how we ebb and flow through outbreaks into 2021,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t think the rules stay where they are today, but I do think we see telemedicine more broadly used.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Private plans<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently there\u2019s no set standard for private health insurance when it comes to covering telehealth services during the pandemic. But many if not most insurance companies are urging patients to use telehealth whenever possible \u2014 and they&#8217;ve improved coverage for telehealth services in order to make virtual care widely accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/files\/document\/faqs-telehealth-covid-19.pdf\">Government support<\/a> has played a role in expanding telehealth coverage, even for privately insured patients. At the federal level, the Department of Health and Human Services waived certain rules regarding telehealth visits, such as the requirement that healthcare providers use HIPAA-compliant video-conferencing platforms. As a result, providers are allowed to use FaceTime, Zoom, Skype and other consumer platforms to conduct video visits. Some states created their own pro-telehealth policies. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dfs.ny.gov\/industry_guidance\/coronavirus\/telehealth_ins_prov_info\">New York<\/a>, for example, mandated that all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autismspeaks.org\/state-regulated-health-benefit-plans\">state-regulated health plans<\/a> cover telehealth.<\/p>\n<p>So how does this expanded telehealth coverage affect cost? When a doctor&#8217;s visit is &#8220;covered,&#8221; that means you aren&#8217;t responsible for the full cost of care. But it doesn&#8217;t mean the visit is entirely free. You may still owe <em>something<\/em> \u2014 a co-pay, for instance. For the time being, some insurers are covering telehealth visits just like regular in-person office visits \u2014 you\u2019d pay whatever your normal office co-pay is. Other health insurance companies have gone a step further, temporarily waiving all fees for any type of telehealth visit.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cvshealth.com\/newsroom\/press-releases\/cvs-health-announces-covid-19-resources-aetna-members\">Aetna<\/a>, for example, is currently offering zero co-pay video visits for any reason and reimbursing all providers for telemedicine at the same rate as in-person visits. I.e., video visits are free for patients.<\/p>\n<p>All 36 independent and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are\u00a0also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcbs.com\/press-releases\/media-statement-blue-cross-and-blue-shield-companies-announce-coverage-of-telehealth-services-for-members\">waiving cost sharing for telehealth services<\/a>\u00a0through early summer for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplekeep.com\/blog\/fully-insured-vs-self-insured-self-funded-health-plans\">members who are fully insured<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.bluecrossma.com\/2020-04-13-Blue-Cross-Blue-Shield-of-Massachusetts-Telehealth-Claims-Skyrocket-During-Coronavirus-Pandemic\">Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts<\/a>\u00a0says it\u2019s processed 180,000 telehealth claims since changing its policy, with March telehealth claims 3,600 percent higher than February\u2019s and 5,100 percent higher than the monthly average for 2019.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ir.antheminc.com\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/anthem-waives-cost-share-covid-19-treatment?field_nir_news_date_value%5bmin%5d=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthem<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is also <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">waiving cost-sharing for telehealth visits through June 14, including visits for mental healthcare and for <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">select physical, occupational and speech therapies.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> That applies to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">members of Anthem\u2019s employer-sponsored, individual and Medicare Advantage plans, and where permissible, Medicaid plans.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visits are covered whether a patient uses <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthem\u2019s telemedicine platform or a different one.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthem is also covering phone-only visits with in-network providers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Anthem, as with other private insurance companies, members\u2019 employers can choose to opt out of the decision to waive cost sharing. In that case, even if your health insurance company has announced zero co-pays for telemedicine appointments right now, you would still be responsible for a co-pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In any case, if you\u2019re billed by insurance for a telehealth visit, it\u2019s worth calling your insurance company to ask about the charge. Your employer may have chosen not to waive costs, or your insurance company could have accidentally billed you by mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a private health plan, visit AHIP\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahip.org\/health-insurance-providers-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">extensive database of policy responses to COVID-19<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more details from your health insurance provider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Medicare and Medicaid<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before COVID-19, most Medicare patients who had telehealth visits were in rural settings. Patients could have a telemedicine appointment with a doctor they had a prior relationship with, and the virtual visit had to take place inside a healthcare facility. It was a way for isolated patients to connect with specialists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMedicare viewed telemedicine as a geographically limiting product,\u201d Martin says. \u201cIt was never viewed as part of a comprehensive care plan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But in March, to help keep healthy patients from being exposed to COVID-19, CMS <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/newsroom\/fact-sheets\/medicare-telemedicine-health-care-provider-fact-sheet\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">temporarily broadened access to Medicare telehealth services<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Now and at least through the end of the pandemic, patients with Medicare can have a telemedicine appointment covered with any provider, even a doctor they\u2019re seeing for the first time and out-of-state doctors, and they can do it from their home using a variety of platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCOVID-19 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has dragged Medicare kicking and screaming into the 21st century<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d says <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Danielle Roberts, a Medicare expert and cofounder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/boomerbenefits.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boomer Benefits<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2019, Medicare tweaked its rules to cover virtual check-ins, or e-visits, which entailed short, five-minute talks that addressed topics like medications refills. But patients couldn\u2019t get a diagnosis during the check-in. \u201cNow people can FaceTime from home,\u201d Roberts says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have Medicare, your telehealth visit will be covered just like an in-person office visit. You\u2019ll pay a co-pay equal to that of what you\u2019d pay if you were seeing your doctor in person. Some Medicare patients might not have a fee at all. That would be the case if your doctor decides to waive the co-pay she\u2019s allowed to collect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doctors can choose to do that, says Roberts. \u201cBut I think a lot of doctors are considering their business down the road right now,\u201d she adds, \u201cand they may be very happy to be able to bill telehealth appointments just like an in-person visit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have Medicare and you\u2019re asked for a co-pay, it can\u2019t hurt to ask your doctor to waive the fee since so many private insurance companies are currently doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One nuance with Medicare is that it isn\u2019t currently covering telemedicine appointments for therapy services, including physical, speech and occupational therapy. A patient who needs speech therapy after a stroke, for example, can\u2019t have a virtual visit covered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat\u2019s a type of appointment you could have via telehealth,\u201d Roberts says. \u201cThe patient is risking going out and potentially exposing themself to the coronavirus just to get that therapy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, lawmakers have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fletcher.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/4.104.20_cms_telehealth_expansion_for_therapy_professionals.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">urged CMS to change this rule<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, expanding coverage of telehealth services to therapy services as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medicaid is more complicated because it\u2019s administered by states. <\/span>Most states are waiving Medicaid requirements in light of the pandemic and allowing telehealth, <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">according to the California-based <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cchpca.org\/resources\/covid-19-related-state-actions?utm_source=Telehealth+Enthusiasts&amp;utm_campaign=e9dfb9c33f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_20_01_02&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_ae00b0e89a-e9dfb9c33f-353229733\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Center for Connected Health Policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Some have also eased rules to let patients access telemental health services from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/doc\/march-15-2020-telehealth-order\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Massachusetts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example, the Department of Public Health ordered all commercial insurers, self-insured plans and state health plans to cover clinically appropriate telehealth services at the same rate as in-person care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s a great deal of leniency toward the use of telehealth and Medicaid, but not anywhere as near as universal as with Medicare or private insurance,\u201d Martin says. \u201cWith Medicaid, you have a very different population.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re a Medicaid recipient, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cchpca.org\/telehealth-policy\/current-state-laws-and-reimbursement-policies\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here\u2019s an interactive overview<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of state-by-state telehealth coverage.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Beyond COVID-19<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the pandemic eases, zero co-pays for telehealth visits will almost certainly go away. What\u2019s yet to be seen is whether private insurance and the government will keep some of the flexibility they\u2019ve extended for virtual visits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI would love it if Medicare would take some time to review how this went during the pandemic, and then maybe say, \u2018Let\u2019s go ahead and leave it,\u2019\u201d Roberts says. \u201cOr maybe it won\u2019t go well, and they won\u2019t want to extend it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insurers and the government don\u2019t necessarily lose money by making telehealth more prevalent. Virtual visits are less expensive than those at brick-and-mortar care settings, Martin points out. Although, telehealth<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0may not always lead to lower overall healthcare costs. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/news\/press\/2017\/03\/06.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One 2017 study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the RAND corporation suggested that, in some cases, patients who seek out virtual care are more likely to get follow-up care for the same issue than patients who initially see doctors in person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless, Martin anticipates a \u201cpretty significant loosening on the Medicare service side\u201d with telehealth as the coronavirus pandemic eases, though it\u2019s still unclear exactly how it plays out. \u201cWe\u2019ll definitely see a greater utilization of telemedicine with physicians of all types,\u201d he says. \u201cBut right now, it\u2019s an open book on how telehealth is best utilized.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1 class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\">Ready to book a doctor&#8217;s appointment? Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Zocdoc.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To encourage patients with nonurgent health issues to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, insurers have greatly expanded telehealth coverage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":18107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[227],"tags":[149,78],"class_list":["post-18672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-covid19","tag-health-insurance","reviewer-dr-nassim-assefi","specialist_by_city-find-primary-care-physicians-near-you"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Does Insurance Work for Video Visits? - Guides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To encourage patients with nonurgent health issues to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, insurers have greatly expanded telehealth coverage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/guides\/how-does-insurance-work-for-video-visits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Does Insurance Work for Video Visits? 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