Resources & Reports

On May 16, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit public input on shaping the future of digital health technology for Medicare beneficiaries. The RFI, titled Health Technology Ecosystem [CMS-0042-NC], seeks comments on how to improve access to and usability of digital health tools, reduce barriers to data interoperability, and align health IT infrastructure with the shift toward value-based care.

An April 2025 report by Peterson Center on Healthcare, Evolving Remote Monitoring: An Evidence-Based Approach to Coverage and Payment, assesses remote patient monitoring (RPM) utilization across Medicare and Medicaid populations to provide policy insights around how remote monitoring technologies can improve clinical outcomes as well as reduce spending. The report looks at current coverage and reimbursement policies applicable to remote monitoring, the clinical benefits remote monitoring has been shown to provide, and recommendations to better align policies with clinical evidence.

CCHP’s May newsletter is here! This month’s topics include – An Expanded Look at Recent State Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder; Lilly Sues Telehealth Company Over Compounded GLP-1 Drug Marketing; Provider Comfort and Barriers in Telemedicine Prescribing: New Study Findings; Telehealth and Tech-Enabled Care for Autism – Promising New Frontiers in Emotion Regulation and Access; VA Telehealth Sees Continued Growth and Veteran Satisfaction; Telemedicine’s Environmental Impact Quantified in New Study; FAIR Health Tracker Enters Sixth Year with Expanded Insights on Telehealth Use; Apply Now: CHCF Health Care Leadership Fellowship. 

The Third Annual Evaluation Report of the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP)was recently released, highlighting the program’s progress to date as well as the role virtual delivery plays in providing MDPP services. The MDPP is considered a lifestyle change program that seeks to provide practical training to promote healthy eating habits, increase physical activity, and maintain weight control amongst Medicare patients at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Prior to 2020, the program was predominantly in-person, but with the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the program was expanded to allow virtual delivery of the curriculum in a distance learning environment.

Private payer telehealth policies can be highly variable and complex. Coverage may differ not only by insurance company but also by the state in which the plan operates and the type of plan (e.g., fully insured commercial plans versus self-funded employer plans). Because of this variability and lack of transparency, tracking these policies in a standardized format has historically been challenging.  However, in recent months, we have come across several detailed private payer telehealth reimbursement policies available online. Based on this publicly available information, we can now provide a high-level overview of the reimbursement policies of 4 private insurers—UnitedHealthcare (UHC), Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBSND), and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL).