Rumored Regs Could Help Payers, PBMs Streamline Digital Therapeutic Coverage

Notable changes to the way breakthrough medical devices are covered by Medicare and other payers could be coming soon, with CMS poised to make some therapeutics eligible for Medicare coverage, and some stakeholders pushing for new legislation to expand digital therapeutic coverage. In the meantime, commercial health plans and PBMs are grappling with how best to cover prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs).

Health plans and PBMs have varying approaches to digital therapeutic reimbursement. Some plans may place one digital therapeutic in the medical benefit, while others may cover PDTs as part of a pharmacy benefit. That’s because PDTs occupy a unique space in the health benefits landscape: They aren’t pharmaceuticals, but they share many characteristics of a maintenance medication in practice.

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Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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