CBO Estimates Medicare Chronic Care Bill Budget Neutral; Telehealth Provisions Cost $150 Million

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bipartisan Medicare chronic care bill heading to Senate Finance Committee markup Thursday won't cost anything over the next 10 years, since the bill offsets some of its costs by eliminating funding in the Medicare Improvement Fund and the Medicaid Improvement Fund. The bill includes a number of telehealth provisions -- allowing Medicare Advantage plans to offer telehealth benefits beyond what is included in fee-for-service and include the cost of those benefits in plans' annual...