Health Law Scan
Summer is almost upon us. And in between the BBQs, pool parties, and baseball games, you might be trying to understand the risks involved in offering healthcare services through telehealth. Whether you're an independent physician or practitioner, part of a hospital or physician group, or working for a telehealth platform provider, there are a number of things to consider.
Legal Insights and Perspectives for the Healthcare Industry
CMS finalized a rule last month that will significantly expand access to telehealth services for patients in Medicare Advantage plans. Implementing provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BiBA), the new rule will allow patients to (finally) receive healthcare services from the comfort of their homes. According to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, “With these new telehealth benefits, Medicare Advantage enrollees will be able to access the latest technology and have greater access to telehealth.”
We're excited to introduce Tele-Tuesdays, a new feature on Health Law Scan where we'll bring you the latest updates in the world of telehealth legal issues. From new regulations and legislation to enforcement actions and changes in the telehealth landscape, we'll cover it all.
Federally, telehealth continues to be a central feature of the government’s efforts to expand access and control soaring healthcare costs. Just last week, CMS finalized its rules implementing the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which will increase flexibility for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans offering telehealth services irrespective of whether a patient is in a rural or urban area. Right now, MA plans are working feverishly to redesign their telehealth benefits in anticipation of plan year 2020. Providers interested in offering telehealth services should assess their current MA contracts and consider engaging with plans to make sure their telehealth services are covered. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, MA plans now cover 34% of Medicare beneficiaries, so this will be a momentous occasion in the expansion of telehealth coverage. And should the results of this expansion be as favorable as anticipated, expect future legislation that will expand telehealth to all Medicare beneficiaries, whether enrolled in MA plans or in Original Medicare.
CMS is expanding a national pilot program (the Value-Based Insurance Design Model, or VBID) that will allow Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for the first time to include hospice (end of life) coverage in plan designs. Since the inception of Medicare Part C, MA plans have “carved out” hospice care, leaving plan enrollees to receive end-of-life care under traditional Medicare Part A. Demonstrating the administration’s willingness to test innovative, value-based models to reduce cost, CMS is moving forward with a pilot that will allow eligible MA plans in all 50 states and territories that apply to the pilot to participate in various VBID programs—a significant expansion of the initial seven state VBID models that tested certain other VBID interventions (adding an additional three states in 2018).
