In-Person Care and Telehealth Private Insurer Payments Similar in 2020

A new analysis by the Kaiser Health Foundation finds that reimbursements from private insurance plans were similar for in-person and telehealth appointments during 2020. The researchers analyzed data from over 90 million claims. The average cost for telehealth visits covering serious evaluation and management cases for established patients was $143, whereas in-person services were, on average, only a few dollars cheaper at $137.

According to Anuja Vaidya, “The average payment among the privately insured for the most common mental healthcare claims, including psychotherapy and group psychotherapy, was approximately the same for care delivered via telehealth and in-person. For psychotherapy, the average payment for telehealth and in-person visits was $48; for group psychotherapy, average reimbursement totaled $58 for telehealth-delivered care and $56 for in-person care.”

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(Source: mHealth Intelligence, January 19^th, 2023)