Effective January 1, 2025, the special COVID-era rule under the CARES Act that allowed employers sponsoring high-deductible health plans to provide free telehealth visits without affecting employees’ eligibility to contribute to health savings accounts (HSA) has expired. Employers must now either ensure that telehealth services are preventive or subject to the plan’s deductible, or they must charge for such services in order to maintain HSA eligibility for their employees.
As noted in our prior blog post on health plan coverage post-COVID-19 emergencies, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2024, employers that sponsor high-deductible health plans could, but were not required to, offer free telehealth services before meeting the plan’s deductible without affecting participants’ eligibility to contribute to an HSA.
Continue reading “Reminder: The CARES Act High-Deductible Health Plan Telehealth Rule Has Expired”