From MGMA April 30, 2020 – Changes to telehealth policy:
- Following MGMA advocacy, CMS is increasing payment for audio-only telephone E/M services (CPT codes 99441-99443) such that they are paid at the same rate as similar office and outpatient E/M visits, resulting in increased payments from $14-$41 to $46-$110. CMS believes that the resources required to furnish these services during the PHE are better captured by RVUs associated with level 2-4 established office/outpatient E/M visits. CMS is not increasing payment for CPT codes 98966-98968, which are intended for practitioners that cannot separately bill for E/M. This policy is retroactive to March 1, 2020.
- For telehealth services other than CPT codes 99441-99443 and 98966-98968 (now added to the list of covered telehealth services), Medicare continues to require modalities that have both audio and video capabilities.
- CMS is forgoing its typical rulemaking process to add new services to the list of Medicare services that may be furnished via telehealth. Instead, CMS will add new telehealth services on a sub-regulatory basis to speed up the process of adding codes to the list.