UnitedHealth, CVS Oppose Medicare Remote Monitoring Rule — SkimNews
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- UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Kaiser Permanente wrote letters to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services opposing a proposal requiring remote patient monitoring care be delivered by direct employees of the billing practice, effectively banning contractor use.
- The CMS proposal targets remote monitoring services that use devices like connected blood pressure cuffs, scales, and blood glucose meters to help patients manage hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure.
- UnitedHealth Group's opposition is notable because its insurance subsidiary, UnitedHealthcare, recently attempted to stop paying for most remote patient monitoring, citing "insufficient evidence of efficacy."
- All three opposing organizations operate both insurance and care delivery businesses, giving each interests as both payers of and billers for remote monitoring services.
- The proposal would significantly disrupt how many doctors bill for tracking patient health remotely through connected devices.
- CMS has not yet issued a final rule on the proposal, and the insurer letters are part of the public comment process on the policy.
Why it matters: UnitedHealth's opposition is striking given its insurance arm recently tried to stop paying for most remote monitoring, citing "insufficient evidence of efficacy." The same company now opposes restrictions on how providers bill for those services, exposing competing incentives within vertically integrated firms that operate both payer and provider businesses and stand to lose revenue on both sides of the rule.
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