09/16/2021

Reimbursements for Telehealth Services

Can you confirm some information I heard from my health center? I was told reimbursements for Telephone visits will be significantly decreased starting October 1st and that only Video visits will continue to be reimbursed at the higher rate.

As of recently, there is no news regarding the changes for telephone E&M visits that are billed by providers under CPT codes 99441–99443. From CMS, New York State Medicaid, or regional/national insurance carriers, there have been no announcements about a change in the reimbursement rates for these remove evaluation and management services. The payment parity that was announced by Medicare in light of the coronavirus pandemic, followed suit by all major insurance carriers, should still be in place. In addition, there are no changes in the reimbursement to other methods of telemedicine that providers may be using in light of the pandemic. Reimbursement should remain at its current levels for the remainder of the year and should not be changing dramatically until sometime in 2022, whether as part of annual fee schedule revisions or when the public health emergency has ended related to COVID.