Some insurers end waivers of telehealth fees and deductibles
Some people will have to start paying more out of their own pockets for telemedicine appointments, if their virtual visits with doctors are unrelated to COVID-19 and are needed to monitor conditions like diabetes or to check out sudden knee pain.
Two of the largest health insurers, Anthem and UnitedHealthcare, are no longer waiving copayments and deductibles for some customers beginning this past Thursday. People who have been relying on telehealth to steer clear of the emergency room or a doctor’s office during the coronavirus pandemic will need to check with their insurers to see how much they will now owe for a virtual visit.
Just how much people who paid nothing before will now have to pay will vary widely, depending on the type of visit and the details of their insurance policy. But you might have the same $25 copayment to see your doctor over video as you do when you go to the office, and you could even be on the hook for the cost of the entire visit if you have not yet met your deductible.
While a virtual visit is likely to be much cheaper than going to an emergency room, you could end up paying anywhere from $55 to $92, the average cost of a lengthy telemedicine visit within your plan’s network, according to an analysis of insurance claims by FAIR Health, a nonprofit group.
The changes in insurance policy were first reported by STAT news.
In the early months of the coronavirus crisis, the federal Medicare program and private health insurance companies wanted to encourage people to use alternatives to in-person care by talking with a doctor over video or by telephone. They relaxed many of the rules for seeking virtual care, and many waived the copayments that would normally be charged for those appointments.
Gunmen ambush convoy: Authorities in northwest Mexico are searching for gunmen who ambushed a convoy carrying security forces, killing six police officers. At least two other people died.
Jose Rosas Aispuro, governor of Durango state, said Saturday that prosecutors are investigating the attack, which happened Thursday in the municipality of El Mezquital. Seven police officers were also injured.
Some vehicles abandoned by the attackers contained bloodstains, likely indicating casualties among the gunmen, said state prosecutor Ruth Medina.
The Sinaloa drug cartel is active in the area where the attack occurred.
India hits COVID-19 milestone: India passed a grim milestone in its fight against the coronavirus Saturday, with health authorities saying the country has recorded more than 100,000 virusrelated deaths since the pandemic began.
The announcement from the Health Ministry means that nearly 10% of the more than 1 million people to die globally in the pandemic have done so in India, behind only the United States and Brazil.
India has seen more than 6.4 million total confirmed infections, recording more than 79,000 new cases in 30 years of east meets west: the past 24 hours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are facing criticism for failing to stop the march of the virus, which in September hit India harder than any other nation in the world.
Almost 41% of India’s total infections and 34% of COVID-19 deaths were reported in September alone, with an average of nearly 1,100 Indians dying every day from the virus.
As in many countries, Modi and his government have struggled with how to balance virus restrictions with the need to boost a contracting economy in which millions are newly jobless.
Ex-Wyoming mine owner sentenced: A former Wyoming coal mine vice president was sentenced Friday to five years in prison almost two years after he pleaded guilty and admitted to stealing millions of dollars from his company and private investors.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen sentenced
Larry Wayne Price Jr., 40, to three years of probation after his prison sentence.
Price embezzled tens of millions of dollars from his investors and helped his boss at the Signal Peak coal mine conduct a scheme of overbilling and fake equipment sales, the Billings Gazette reported.
Price has admitted that his various crimes netted close to $40 million.
Former CEO of Signal Peak Brad Hanson died in February before he could be charged.
Others have been convicted in connection with Price’s schemes since he admitted wrongdoing in 2018, including the contractors that built his Billings mansion and who avoided federal taxes in a scheme with Price.
Price’s attorney Jennifer DeGraw recommended no more than two years in prison, telling the court that home confinement was a fair punishment. She said her client had lung damage from coal mine work and was at an increased risk if he contracted the coronavirus in prison.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of five to six and a half years in prison.
Alaska conservationists make plea: Alaska conservationists are urging state and federal officials not to reopen wolf hunting season around Prince of Wales Island.
They are imploring officials to do so in order to allow the population of wolves to recover from last season’s record harvest, CoastAlaska reported.
Much of the island is part of the Tongass National Forest, which makes state and federal governments in charge of managing hunting and trapping.
The U.S. Forest Service had postponed the federal subsistence wolf season until Oct. 31. The state’s hunting season for wolves is scheduled to open two weeks afterward.
State and federal managers eliminated the harvest limit in 2019, which has resulted in a record 165 wolves hunted or trapped since then, said Patrick Lavin of Defenders of Wildlife in Anchorage.
“That level of trapping — direct mortality — is on top of other challenges for these wolves, especially from extensive habitat loss from clear cutting and road building in the past,” Lavin said. “So, it’s a population kind of struggling to survive that got especially hard hit last year because of that change in policy.“
A 2018 estimate said wolves native to the surrounding archipelago have a population of about 170, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. State Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang has said if the population falls below 100, hunting and trapping season would close.
Environmentalists have petitioned the federal government to list subspecies of wolves as threatened. That request is still pending with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.