TRICARE Cuts Telehealth Co-pays, OKs Phone Calls During COVID-19 Crisis

Prompted by concerns from two senators, the US military’s health care program is eliminating co-payments for telehealth services and providing coverage for audio-only phone services.

The announcement by TRICARE, the health plan overseen by the military health system, was posted this week in the Federal Register and will remain in place for the duration of the national emergency caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

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The changes, which put TRICARE in line with many other private and public health plans, follow a request last week from US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Martha McSally (R-AZ) to expand connected health coverage for military members and their families during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Unfortunately, we have heard concerns that TRICARE has not made the same level of commitment to telehealth flexibilities for mental health services, as compared to the Medicare program and private insurers,” they wrote in the May 4 letter to Thomas McCaffery, the Defense Health Agency’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. “This could force military members and their families battling mental illness to risk their own physical health and potential COVID-19 infection in order to access the mental health treatment they need.”

Both senators lauded this week’s announcement.

“I appreciate that Medicare, Medicaid and now TRICARE have all responded to our bipartisan calls in Congress to provide flexible health care access during these tremendously challenging times, including audio-only forms of telehealth,” Shaheen said in a press release. “This is especially important in the delivery of mental health care. This will allow military families to more easily check in with a doctor without unnecessary out-of-pocket expenses, which is especially important now that health advice and counseling is in such high demand and so necessary.”

Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) relaxed its rules for audio-only phone services, as well as easing several other guidelines designed to improve access to telehealth care.

Though in effect only during the emergency, the changes address significant barriers to telehealth adoption: cost and access. Removing co-payments reduces the financial burden on families seeking healthcare at a time when many are out of work or working reduced hours.

Audio-only phone-based care has long been considered insufficient to satisfy the requirements of a doctor-patient relationship. But telehealth advocates have noted that in some rural and remote parts of the country, internet and cellular coverage is not strong enough to support video-based services or smartphones.

In some states, like North Dakota and Arkansas, lawmakers have struggled to pass telehealth legislation that mandates video-based telemedicine platforms because a significant part of each state’s population doesn’t have access to reliable broadband services.