Medical insurers Aetna, Cigna agree to pay for online doctor visits

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/021508dnbusonlineappointments.373c4df.html

In recent weeks, Aetna Inc., the nation's largest insurer, and Cigna Corp. have agreed to reimburse doctors for online visits. Other large insurers are expected to follow, experts say.


"People can wait a long time to get in to see their primary-care doctor and longer for a specialist. ... To have immediate access is huge," said Dr. Melissa Welch, Aetna's medical director for northern California.

<snip>

If so, it comes at an auspicious time. Doctor visits in the United States have surged 20 percent in the last five years to more than 1.2 billion visits annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


<snip>
Doctors are encouraged to respond to patients within a day; they receive an e-mail reminder if they haven't, with a phone call on the second day. Prices vary from $25 to $125, which patients pay with a credit card at the end of the session.

[glowing]

1. Ok, this is the biggest b.s. scam.. this is even worse than the system

we have now.. Its as bad a that "phone the nurse" crap they have now.

[bemildred]

2. Why heck, who needs patients at all? nt

[Karenina]

3. Online "visits?"

For $25-$125? Whatever.