Various health insurers have taken initiatives to expand their virtual care services for their members since the pandemic has hit high and might. Fired by the acceleration of digital health and telehealth, the five healthcare payers have formed new policies, to be effective later this year.
- Humana has partnered with DispatchHealth, a provider of in-home medical care, to offer Humana members access to 24/7 medical care outside of the hospital. The Louisville, Ky.-based payer also tied a $200 million Series D funding round for DispatchHealth. “ Humana and DispatchHealth are focused on promoting the overall home care experience and health outcomes by allowing individuals to remain at home while also empowering the medical team to identify and address patient needs, including social determinants of health”, said Susan Diamond, President of Humana’s home business.
- Indianapolis-based payer, Anthem, said it will make an immediate investment in ShareCare and extend its assistance with the digital health company as it grows its product development. The size of Anthem’s investment was not disclosed. ShareCare offers digital tools to help consumers manage and consolidate their health information on a single platform, and its app renders messaging and measurement tools that let users control their health habits and support behavior change.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota extended virtual care profits for its members through the end of 2021. Blue Cross has declared that it would cover all in-network Covid19 treatment including office visits and hospitalization at no cost to members.
- EverNorth, Cigna’s health services business accessed into a definitive agreement to procure telehealth company MDLive. This acquisition will provide EverNorth with a highly interconnected platform that will rapidly increase EverNorth’s capabilities to deliver a more affordable, convenient, and connected patient care experience.
- UnitedHealthcare rolled out virtual care advantage for members needing hearing assessments or hearing aids. The capability known as “Right2you” builds on the home-delivered hearing health care model developed by UnitedHealth to reduce the need for in-person appointments for hearing aid adjustments and support.