Payer Extends COVID-19 Treatment, Telehealth Benefits Through 2021

To ensure care access as the pandemic continues, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has extended eligibility for telehealth benefits and COVID-19 treatment waivers through the end of this year.

When COVID-19 began, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota temporarily expanded virtual care benefits to improve care access among members and limit in-person care across various specialties. Throughout 2020 and into 2021, members utilized these expanded benefits at high rates, leading Blue Cross to extend eligibility until December 31, 2021.

This makes Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota one of the first payers to extend virtual care and COVID-19-related benefits through the end of the year.

“We’ve heard first-hand from our members and health care provider partners that virtual care is working to help address the needs of our communities at a time when in-person care may not always be available or preferred,” said Craig Samitt, MD, MBA, president and CEO at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

“We will continue to do right by our members in any way we can to help them through this challenging time,” Samitt continued.

The expanded virtual care benefits include coverage for behavioral health services, medication management, as well as physical, speech, and occupational therapy.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has covered all in-network COVID-19 treatment, including office visits and hospitalizations, at no cost to members. At the beginning of the year, the payer announced that it would extend cost-sharing waivers for out-of-pocket spending on COVID-19 treatment until March 2021.

However, as the pandemic continues to affect the physical and economic health of all, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has announced that the COVID-19 treatment cost waiver will be available through June 30, 2021. 

The additional coverage applies to members in fully insured commercial plans and Medicare beneficiaries, as well as Minnesotans who purchase Blue Cross coverage on their own.  Self-insured employers can also direct Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to extend coverage within their own plans.

At the beginning of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extended the public health emergency through April 2021, which led many payers to extend temporary COVID-19 and virtual care benefits past the original eligibility window that was set.

For instance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina have agreed to extend COVID-19 treatment coverage through March 31, 2021. Cigna extended benefits for COVID-19 treatments until February 15, 2021.

Aetna waived cost-sharing for inpatient COVID-19 treatment and outpatient services for telemental and telebehavioral health through January 31, 2021 for Medicare Advantage and commercial members.  

The expansion of telehealth benefits comes after members reported high satisfaction from virtual care visits throughout the pandemic. As the healthcare industry continues to utilize technology to optimize patient experience, payers may seek to permanently integrate virtual care benefits into their plans.

“Going into COVID, telehealth had become a nice-to-have benefit for employees who needed convenient care for minor issues and it wasn't built with an orientation to be much more than that,” Mike Thompson, president and chief executive officer of National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, told HealthPayerIntelligence in a 2020 interview.

“What we have found since COVID is that, when telehealth went mainstream, the expectations went way up. As we go forward, I think it becomes more of an integrated strategy. It becomes an expectation that this is a modality that providers will use,” Thompson explained.