Easing Telehealth High Deductible Rule Needs Change in Statute

The IRS needs clearance from lawmakers in order to give employers and health plans leeway to allow telehealth plans to cover treatment before patients meet annual deductibles, two officials said Friday.

An emergency Covid-19 policy expired Dec. 31 that enabled people with high-deductible plans and health savings accounts to get telehealth coverage without first having to meet annual deductibles. Employers say the policy should be extended.

“It’s a statutory provision, and I don’t know that we really have the authority to extend it otherwise,” Kevin Knopf, senior technician reviewer of the health and welfare branch of the IRS’s office of ...