Day: January 3, 2013

The chance that patients can virtually see a doctor–and have that visit paid for by their insurance company–has just dramatically increased. WellPoint, the second largest health insurer in the country, plans to include coverage for such telemedicine services in all of its employer and individual plans, reported The Wall Street Journal.

WellPoint’s telehealth program, LiveHealth Online, will allow its members to connect with their doctors using a webcam, video-enabled tablet or smartphone beginning in 2014. It plans to launch the program in California and Ohio early next year and then roll the service out to its remaining 12 states by the end of the year.

The virtual doctor visits should appeal to employers and individuals looking for “convenience and accessibility of care,” WellPoint’s Executive Vice President Ken Goulet told the WSJ.

Initially, members can consult with their doctors using only webcam video, but WellPoint plans to add smartphone and tablet capabilities soon thereafter. Members will have access to these virtual visits every day between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. and will owe roughly the same copayment as for the live in-person visit.

WellPoint’s virtual doctor visit program is the latest and most significant sign that payers are moving toward telehealth, albeit slowly. Some payers, such as Aetna and UnitedHealth, provide virtual-visit services only as an option for certain employers. And Highmark launched a virtual physician visit pilot program in April for about 10,000 of its members at three Western Pennsylvania companies and one company in West Virginia, FierceHealthIT previously reported.

Aetna has been fined $1 million by the Washington state insurance department because it has issued more than 7,000 health, disability and life insurance policies that failed to meet state requirements.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Aetna sold many of its policies to out-of-state employers or through out-of-state trusts. Others didn’t include certain coverage mandated by state law, didn’t refer to the state appeals and grievance process or failed to obtain approval for rates and benefits, The Seattle Times reported.

Because these policies didn’t comply with state law, Kreidler’s office asserted they were never official and even introduced significant risk to consumers of these health plans, reported Live Insurance News.

“All insurers must comply with state law, and most of them do,” Kreidler said in a statement. “I hope that this fine and compliance plan resolves these problems with Aetna.”

Aetna agreed to the fine and said it will work to resolve the identified problems.