Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has expanded telehealth services to include outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services. In this article, I will answer some of the more common questions I have received regarding UnitedHealthcare’s expansion of telehealth services to include physical, occupational and speech therapy services. QuestionWhen did UHC expand telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer QuestionWhat is the end date of the expansion of telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer QuestionWhat plans does the telehealth expansion apply to? Answer QuestionWhat CPT codes will UHC pay for

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cigna has expanded telehealth services to include outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services. In this article, I will answer some of the more common questions I have received regarding Cigna’s expansion of telehealth services to include physical, occupational and speech therapy services. QuestionWhen did Cigna expand telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer QuestionWhat is the end date of the expansion of telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer (Updated May 24, 2020) QuestionWhat plans does the telehealth expansion apply to? Answer QuestionWhat CPT codes will

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Aetna has expanded telehealth services to include outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services. In this article, I will answer some of the more common questions I have received regarding Aetna’s expansion of telehealth services to include physical, occupational and speech therapy services. QuestionWhen did Aetna expand telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer QuestionWhat is the end date of the expansion of telehealth services to outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services? Answer (Updated June 1, 2020) QuestionWhat plans does the telehealth expansion apply to? Answer QuestionWhat CPT codes will

Effective April 9, 2020, Cigna has updated their telehealth coverage policies for outpatient physical, occupational and speech-language pathology therapy services. Previously, Cigna only covered the following CPT codes: For Physical Therapy: 97161, 97162, 97110 (only 2 units per telehealth visit) For Occupational Therapy: 97165, 97166, 97110 (only 2 units per telehealth visit) For Speech Therapy: 92507 and 92526 Per the update, Cigna will now cover the following CPT codes: I hope you found this article helpful. Thank you for being a Gold Member!

On March 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period titled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency“. This interim final rule with comment period contains important information for not only outpatient physical, occupational and speech-language pathology therapy services, but also therapy provided under a Home Health Agency plan of care and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Lets start with outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services and find out what’s new! QuestionDid CMS add physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs) and speech-language

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many providers of outpatient therapy services are implementing telehealth services to meet the needs of their patients. Since many have never provided telehealth services previously, they are uncertain how to do the billing. In addition, insurance carriers who are expanding telehealth coverage, either voluntarily or state mandated, may not have guidance for providers regarding the billing of outpatient therapy telehealth services. In this article, I will provide answers and/or guidance on some of the questions I have been receiving. QuestionDoes the Medicare program pay for telehealth services provided by a physical therapist, occupational therapist or

Noridian Healthcare Solution, Medicare Administrative Contractor for the states of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, has published a revised article providing clarification regarding the billing of CPT codes 29105, 29125, 29126, 29130, 29131, 97760, 97799 for the application of a splint when also billing the L code the same day. To access the article, log into your Gold account and click

For those of you that provide outpatient therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries, many of you will see a decrease in your payments in 2018 compared to 2017 due to a reduction in payment of the most commonly billed CPT codes to the Medicare program. However, several CPT codes that perhaps you should have been billing all these years will see an increase in their payment rate in 2018 compared to 2017. This change in payment is due to changes in the work relative value unit (RVU) and practice expense (PE) RVU of the CPT codes. The work RVU takes into