Health Plan Weekly

Telehealth use has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is likely to remain higher than it was before the crisis on a permanent basis. However, the difficult work of regulating and establishing rate structure for telehealth beyond the COVID-19 pandemic has only just started.

Experts tell AIS Health that Congress might make permanent some of the emergency changes to telehealth rules enacted to ensure Americans could still receive care while sheltering at home, likely as part of the next coronavirus emergency spending package that could come shortly before Congress’ August recess. On June 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing about how to consolidate the gains in telehealth made necessary by the pandemic.

In a deal that the companies say was validated by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, HealthNow New York Inc. revealed on June 16 that it will become part of fellow Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee Highmark Inc.

“Conversations regarding this potential partnership with Highmark began months ago, but it’s fair to say that the recent impact of COVID-19 really shed light on the threats and the gaps in the broader health care delivery system,” David Anderson, president and CEO of HealthNow, said during a conference call with reporters. “This affiliation will further strengthen our company to respond to our members’ health care needs when additional unexpected pressures arise.”

✦ The annual estimated cost for COVID-19 diagnostic testing ranges from $6.0 billion to $25.1 billion, while the estimated cost for antibody testing ranges from $5.2 billion to $19.1 billion. That’s according to a new analysis from Wakely Consulting Group (prepared for America’s Health Insurance Plans), which separately updated its previous analysis estimating the cost of treating COVID-19 (see story, p. 1). The testing analysis examined potential costs associated with three types of COVID-19 tests: medically necessary ones used to treat or diagnose COVID-19; public health tests aimed at analyzing the prevalence of COVID-19 in the population on an ongoing basis; and occupational health tests meant to reduce employees’ risk of exposure to the coronavirus at their workplaces. Read more at https://bit.ly/2Yjwb1q.

✦ A new proposed rule from the Trump administration would let employers use health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) to reimburse employees who opt for direct primary care arrangements or health care sharing ministry memberships. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on June 10, would also designate any funds employees spend on those two type of health insurance alternatives as deductible medical expenses. Last summer, the administration released a final rule that allowed companies to use HRAs to reimburse employees for purchasing individual health insurance policies (HPW 7/1/19, p. 1). View the proposed rule at https://bit.ly/3dTKSPn.