Excellus says it’s waiving COVID-19 cost sharing

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced it will waive out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 medical testing, diagnosis, and treatment for the next 60 days for its fully insured employer groups, individual market qualified health plans, and Medicare Advantage members.

This waives the member’s copayment or cost share for testing, diagnosis, and treatment, even if that treatment is delivered in the hospital, Excellus said.

Excellus will also work with self-funded customers who want to implement a similar approach.

Rochester–based Excellus, which operates an office in DeWitt, is Central New York’s largest health insurer.

Excellus outlines other measures

Besides waiving out-of-pocket costs, Excellus BCBS says it has also waived copays for medically necessary office, urgent care, ER visits, and lab tests related to COVID-19, both in- and out-of-network.

The health insurer has expanded telehealth services to all members and trained local providers on use of the technology and increased payment levels to replace some of their lost in-office revenue.

The nonprofit has also waived all member cost-share responsibility for telehealth services “regardless of the nature of the medical issue.”

The health insurer also waived or extended time frames for claims disputes, appeals, grievances, and audits; is providing a 24/7 nurse line where members can contact an Excellus nurse by phone anytime; and is helping members navigate health-insurance options, such as the Essential Plan, Medicaid, Child Health Plus, COBRA, and Medicare products, “for those facing unemployment.”