Starting next year, Presbyterian Health Plan, the insurance arm of Albuquerque-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services, will begin offering beneficiaries telemedicine physician consults for minor, acute conditions such as headaches or sore throats, according to an Albuquerque Business First report.
The video-based consults will be provided by MDLIVE, a national telemedicine provider. Only beneficiaries with a high-deductable plan will be responsible for the $40 co-pay for the service, according to the report.
"From a convenience standpoint and from an affordability standpoint, it is a real value to our members," PHP President Lisa Lujan said in the report. "In most plans there will be a zero-dollar copayment. Almost all members will be eligible. We are offering it across our commercial and Medicare and Medicaid plans."
PHP is not the first to offer this service to its members. WellPoint recently began offering telemedicine services for minor ailments to 4 million of its members, and Aetna has announced plans to expand the number of people able to access its telemedicine services from 3 million to 8 million next year, according to a Bloomberg report. Other smaller insurers are also following the trend — last month, Williamsville, N.Y.-based Independent Health announced plans to offer telemedicine services to its members starting in 2015.
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