Included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) are several provisions dealing with the expansion of telehealth services coverage, including for individuals currently enrolled in high deductible health plans (HDHPs):
Section 3701
Participants in HDHPs — including those with HSAs — are no longer required to meet their deductibles before gaining access to telehealth services. Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck so early in the year, most HDHP participants had not yet met their deductible responsibilities. However, the federal government has recognized the importance of keeping the patient load at health care facilities as low as possible by removing this obstacle to acquire telehealth services without having to first satisfy a high deductible. Individuals enrolled in a HDHP will still be able to make and receive contributions to an HSA if their plan offers no-cost telehealth services before a deductible is satisfied.
This provision is effective for 2020 and 2021 calendar year plans; it sunsets at the end of December 2021 unless it is extended or made permanent by Congress.
Section 3703
This provision allows health care providers to provide telehealth services to new patients covered by Medicare. Under prior federal legislation, practitioners were only able to provide telehealth services to Medicare patients if they had a pre-existing relationship with the patient over the past three years.
Section 3704
To ensure that telehealth services are available to areas that typically lack sufficient medical resources, this section of the CARES Act allows federal qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs) to be designated as “distant sites” (where a health care provider is located) for telehealth consultations.
Section 3705
Under this provision, doctors are now able to provide home dialysis evaluations via telehealth. Prior to implementation of the CARES Act, physicians had to evaluate new home dialysis patients in person every month for the first three months of treatment.
Section 3706
Allows hospice care recertifications to be performed via telehealth services where previously recertifications for the third benefit period and beyond required an in-person visit per Medicare hospice benefit rules.
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