HealthPartners and Medica are waiving certain fees for more than 70,000 people in Medicare health plans to encourage seniors to seek care despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The moves respond to signs that many people have been putting doctor visits on hold, possibly due to worries about exposure to the novel coronavirus.
"We recognize that for Medicare members ... there is a question of making sure that they are getting the care that they need in the context of any concerns that they might have about COVID," said Dr. Patrick Courneya, the chief health plan medical officer at Bloomington-based HealthPartners. "These last few months have led to delays in them getting in for care for things that they really need to be paying attention to."
HealthPartners is waiving cost-sharing fees for Medicare members when they seek in-network primary care and behavioral health visits between July and December. The change applies to about 45,000 people in the insurer's Medicare Advantage, Medicare Cost and group retiree health plans in Minnesota and neighboring states.
Minnetonka-based Medica is waiving cost-sharing for in-office, in-network appointments from June to September. Savings are available to about 28,000 people in Minnesota enrolled in the insurer's Medicare Advantage health plans.
"Our goal is to ensure members get the care they need by seeing their primary care and specialist providers as the first level of care," Greg Bury, a Medica spokesman, said via e-mail to the Star Tribune. He added that "telehealth at home" will continue "as a secondary option."
COVID-19 has created unexpected costs for health insurers as a significant number of people seek care for the new respiratory illness. But those costs might be more than offset by savings for health insurers due to deferred health care, according to an April report by the actuarial firm Milliman.
Milliman projected a net reduction in medical costs for health care payers of at least $75 billion.
