Telehealth on hold: Will private insurers follow the lead of traditional Medicare?

So far it does not appear private health insurers will follow the lead and let lapse any changes that made it easier to reimburse physicians for telehealth services they provide to patients. However, Medicare fee-for-service sets expectations about health care payment, so this situation could create uncertainty for other health insurers, said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president, public policy of the American Telemedicine Association, and executive director of ATA Action, its advocacy affiliate.

Medical Economics: With the expiration of Medicare flexibilities, are you aware of any drastic changes in telehealth reimbursement policy that has taken place among private insurers?

Kyle Zebley: No, I'm aware of no major changes that have occurred outside the Medicare fee for service program. And that means that, for instance, Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid plans, various commercial insurance plans, have not announced any major changes at all. That was to be expected. These flexibilities are very targeted to Medicare fee-for-service. Medicare fee-for-service is tremendously impactful and important, and that includes whether or not you're offering care to Medicare beneficiaries as an organization. It's important because Medicare fee for service still sets the floor of expectations for what other payers will cover. As Medicare goes so do other payers, by and large, by practice. And so I think that the real question is, how long will this this impasse last? How long will these programs remain lapsed, and what is the path forward there to get to a place where we're no longer in this period of prolonged uncertainty? That's why we really need to push for permanency, and if not permanency, the longest extension possible. That's why every day that goes by is a greater and greater concern to the entire healthcare system, and it's why we need to end it. It's why we need to make those providers whole. It's why we need to use this as a rallying cry for permanency, so that we don't see any delayed negative impacts on telehealth coverage in these other payers.