Telehealth

I am sharing this because I know there are many Dr. Natale patients on this forum. I am an out-of-area patient of his and I have always been aware of what the telehealth coverage is for people who are on Medicare. I thought I was “on top” of that until today when I called his office to schedule my yearly telehealth appointment. His scheduler told me that, as of now, the benefits will be changing the end on March 2025. They are upset with this change, as are his patients, because most them are out-of-area. I checked on this after my call and it appears this benefit will mostly be limited to patients in a rural office or medical facility.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2025 05:55PM by Pixie.

Just to clarify, I believe the telehealth coverage you are referring to is for Medicare patients. It does not necessarily affect private insurance companies. A Medicare supplemental policy may still allow it. In my state private insurance is required to cover telehealth on any service that an in person visit would cover.

You are absolutely right. I just edited my post to reflect that it is for Medicare recipients! Thanks for catching that.

There is nothing to stop anyone from paying for the visit out of pocket. If you are his patient, realistically in comparison, if you would drive or fly there to be seen or be treated an out of pocket expense for a telehealth visit is cheaper than what you are willing to pay for travel and hotel.

There is nothing to stop anyone from paying for the visit out of pocket. If you are his patient, realistically in comparison, if you would drive or fly there to be seen or be treated an out of pocket expense for a telehealth visit is cheaper than what you are willing to pay for travel and hotel.


You are right. I will be paying out of pocket for the telephone visit. My intent was to share this information for folks who might not have known of the change.

Originally the telehealth virtual visit was planned to had stopped the end of December 2024 but it was extended to March. My EP’s secretary told me perhaps it will be postponed again after March.