{"id":22359,"date":"2020-10-14T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/14\/virtual-healthcare-gets-an-increased-focus-for-2021\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:58:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:58:31","slug":"virtual-healthcare-gets-an-increased-focus-for-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2020\/10\/14\/virtual-healthcare-gets-an-increased-focus-for-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual healthcare gets an increased focus for 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federal insurance plans will have even more provisions for covering telemedicine care for enrollees as a years-long effort to expand such options coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic increasing demand for virtual care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarriers have been encouraged for both 2020 and 2021 to increase coverage for telehealth services, including waiving cost-sharing in response to the COVID-19 epidemic,\u201d said Laurie Bodenheimer, acting director for healthcare and insurance at the Office of Personnel Management, said in an Oct. 14 press call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncreasing telehealth coverage under FEHB has been a focus for us for at least the last four years. And perhaps a side-effect of the pandemic is that both enrollees and providers have significantly increased their use of telehealth services and have become comfortable with that, so I would expect that trend to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t