Advocating for telehealth permanence
Throughout the public health emergency (PHE), commercial insurance companies and Medicaid plans have been keeping pace with Medicare regarding telehealth expansion and flexibilities. Although there is some variation among the various payers as to what specific services are covered when delivered via telehealth and how to appropriately bill those services, these flexibilities have allowed occupational therapy practitioners and their patients to maintain continuity of care while mitigating infection. During the last several months, AOTA has continually monitored the policy changes and provided regular updates for both commercial insurance companies and state Medicaid plans.
However, practitioners and patients alike have expressed concern about payers suddenly ending these flexibilities. Not only have the flexibilities provided peace of mind regarding limiting exposure to COVID-19, but they have also afforded patients the convenience of receiving therapy services without leaving home—critical for those patients who lack transportation or have limited mobility. For those reasons and others, many have expressed a desire for these flexibilities to continue after the PHE ends.
AOTA has initiated an advocacy campaign to make occupational therapy via telehealth a permanent benefit. Advocacy with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been ongoing even before the PHE, initially because therapists were not included in the list of eligible telehealth providers under federal statute. That effort has now shifted to petitioning CMS and Congress to retain access to telehealth included in a current CMS waiver, including occupational therapy, permanently for Medicare beneficiaries after the PHE is over.
Additionally, AOTA has launched an advocacy initiative to promote permanent telehealth coverage for other payers. AOTA sent letters in early July to the five largest commercial insurance companies: Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare. Advocacy efforts with smaller regional payers, large employers with self-administered insured plans, and targeted state Medicaid plans are currently underway. Contact us at regulatory@aota.org for more information or to request copies of AOTA advocacy letters included within the telehealth campaign.