Insurance companies may begin limiting or entirely removing telehealth coverage for mental health services despite the huge expansion of virtual care services during the pandemic, according to new research supported by the National Institute on Aging.
“If greater utilization of health services drives higher healthcare spending, insurers may begin pushing back on the new status quo,” said Jonathan Cantor, a lead author of the study. “Insurers may look for ways to curb costs and that could mean less flexibility about using telehealth for mental health services.”
The researchers analyzed the medical claims data of about 7 million adults who received health insurance through their employer from 2019-2022. They looked at claims for service related to conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
In-person mental health visits decreased nearly 40% amid the pandemic, but overall utilization of mental health services still rose 22%. The reason for this, according to the study, can be attributed to telehealth utilization for mental healthcare, which soared over 1,000% during both the acute and post-acute phase, between 2020 and 2022. The numbers have leveled out since the end of the public health emergency, but telehealth has still grown while in-person care fell. As of August 2022, telehealth utilization was about 38% higher than it was pre-pandemic, while in-person visits only recovered about 80% of their past utilization rate.
Reflecting this growth, spending on mental healthcare has increased by 53% since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the researchers, this may prompt some insurers to drop coverage for some of these services, “rejecting the new status quo.”
“This disproportionate increase in spending will likely evolve now that the PHE has ended, with insurers either continuing or stopping coverage for telehealth visits for mental health services,” the study said.
Despite this, many still seek permanent implementation of telehealth coverage following the winding down of pandemic-era healthcare flexibilities. Recently, a team of university researchers urged lawmakers to renew Michigan’s telehealth expansion as many counties in the state have few or no mental health specialists able to provide care to patients in need.
