On March 20, 2020, South Dakota Medicaid has added temporary coverage of occupational therapy and physical therapy via telemedicine for patients at high risk for COVID-19 or under quarantine or social distancing during a declared emergency for COVID-19. Therapy services may only utilize telemedicine if the patient and provider have previously met for in-person services. Use of telemedicine for the convenience of the provider or recipient is not covered. South Dakota Medicaid has updated the Telemedicine Billing and Policy Manual to allow coverage for CPT codes 97530, 97110, and 97112. Telemedicine coverage is also available for school districtsunder CPT codes

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Georgia has a webpage where they are posted updates regarding COVID-19. To access the BCBS of Georgia provider home page, click HERE.

Here is a nice resource of states that have taken action on telehealth coverage. Check back daily as new information may be posted.

Click HERE to access the content.

Regence BCBS is expanding telehealth coverage in the states of Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and select counties of the state of Washington. Click HERE to read all about telehealth. If you have specific questions about telehealth coverage for outpatient physical, occupational and/or speech therapy, you will need to contact your Regence provider.

Blue Shield (BS) of California has added outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services as providers who can provide telehealth services and be reimbursed for those services. BS states “Physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), speech therapy (SP), and registered nurse dietitian nutritionist services can all be provided via telehealth, limited to services that are not “hands-on” and can be provide remotely. Examples of common CPT codes that fall into this category: PT – 97110, OT – 97530, SP – 92507.” Click HERE to read it straight from the BS of California website.

New Jersey Governor Murphy announces Departmental Actions to Expand Access to Telehealth and Tele-Mental Health Services in Response to COVID-19. This includes physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. Click HERE to read the announcement.

TRICARE has finally issued the long awaited final rule to add physical therapist assistants (PTAs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) as TRICARE authorized providers to provide physical therapy or occupational therapy services under the supervision of a TRICARE-authorized physical therapist (PT) or occupational therapist (OT) in accordance with Medicare’s rules for supervision and qualification. TRICARE will implement I hope you enjoyed this article and this great news that has long been overdo. Thank you for being a Gold Member!

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), I am receiving many questions regarding telehealth and the ability for physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists to provide telehealth services and to have those services reimbursed by the Medicare program and private/commercial insurance carriers. See below for some of the common questions I receive and the answers as of March 13, 2020. QuestionWith the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services changing the rules and regulations for telehealth services due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), does this now mean physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists can now provide telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries, bill