CommercialAdministrativeHigh impact
Payment policies for telemedicine/telephone services for commercial and Medicare Advantage products effective January 1
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island·RI · Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Practice +2 more·Provider Update
Effective date
Jan 1, 2021
We identified it
Jun 19, 2026
Summary
BCBSRI updated their telemedicine payment policies effective January 1, 2021, continuing 100% reimbursement at in-office rates for clinically appropriate services. Key changes include eliminating the CR modifier requirement for telemedicine claims and implementing different cost-sharing rules for commercial vs Medicare Advantage plans.
Action Required
Immediately: Billing team must stop using CR modifier on ALL telemedicine claims for dates of service January 1, 2021 and after. Continue using POS 02 with 95-modifier for real-time audio/video services and POS 02 without modifier for telephone-only services. Update billing system rules to remove CR modifier requirement. Failure to follow new filing guidelines may result in incorrect claims processing.