Some insurers offer plans emphasizing telehealth

Kaiser Health News reported on some health insurance companies that are now offering options that emphasize telehealth visits. In theory, doctors who conduct many virtual visits should be able to save on some overhead, such as not having to staff the receptionist's desk during certain hours. The article discusses at least one organization that specializes in providing doctors who specialize in virtual visits, and who can presumably do so with much less overhead.

Easier access to doctors might also benefit some patients. For example, some patients might respond better to more frequent doctor visits and that could theoretically lead to lower costs for the insurers. It's nice that insurers and providers are trying out alternate business models. Hopefully, some lasting innovations will come from these experiments, even if they end up being different than their current form. It is unfortunate that it seemingly took a major pandemic to prod insurers to explore these options.