Tricare, the healthcare program for the U.S. military, is bringing back copayments for telehealth care after a two-year hiatus, according to reporting in Task and Purpose Purpose.
Tricare has not announced an official date for when copayments will return. However, it updated the Federal Register of the policy change in June. Copayments had been waived for medical and mental telehealth services since May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the change in the copay policy, Tricare is looking to permanently offer telehealth services, according to the Aug. 3 report in Task and Purpose.
"We do not expect termination of this provision to have any impact on access to care, as beneficiaries will continue to have access to telehealth services and will be able to choose to continue using such services, or to visit their provider in-person, with the same cost-share applied to the service regardless of the modality through which it was delivered," reads the ruling in the Federal Register.