Medicare Advantage Plans Allowed To Expand Access To Telehealth In 2020 Plan Year

On January 18, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a change to the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model, allowing participating Medicare Advantage plans to offer telehealth services if an in-person option remains. Telehealth services can be offered under two models—offered to all plan members or offered to those members with specific health conditions. Currently Medicare allows telehealth only when the beneficiary lives in a rural area. The participating plans can test how telehealth can augment and complement current Medicare Advantage networks. For rural areas with fewer network professionals, CMS believes that . . .