telehealth update, BCBS, good news

Greetings to user group members interested in telehealth services.

There was a previous group discussion about telehealth that included concern about BCBS of MN's policy, which specifically excludes covering telehealth services provided when the recipient is in their home. This obviously is a problem because their PMAP product, Blue Plus, must be in compliance with DHS guidelines and DHS specifically states that telehealth services provided when the recipient is in their home is a covered benefit. 

So, I knew that BCBS's policy was a problem.  I tried to work with a BCBS representative, who basically hemmed and hawed, eventually acknowledged that their Blue Plus policies needed to comply with MCHP policies, but nothing changed. This took a couple of months. So,  contacted DHS last week, she requested a copy of my email discussion thread with BCBS, and a few hours after I sent this into  I had a call from a BCBS staff. . She asked a few questions and promised to get back to me "soon." The  next day I had another call from her. She was very apologetic, acknowledged that their policy was wrong, and she specifically stated that we can bill BCBS Blue Plus for telehealth services when the member receives them in the home. 

This leaves some questions about other BCBS "commercial" policies.  She said that most of their commercial products cover telehealth services but it will be necessary to check each contract to make sure that is not an exclusion for telehealth when the recipient is in their home. 

Richard Sethre, PsyD, LP