In what could prove to be a lifeline for a new crop of health tech startups, Medicare regulators proposed new codes that support payment for digital mental health treatments, like apps that deliver cognitive behavioral therapy.
The new codes in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule released this week would allow clinicians to bill for supplying apps and other digital treatments as part of behavioral health treatment, as well as for time spent on services related to a patient’s use of these devices.
The codes are limited to medical devices cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and for which the clinicians incurred the cost. While the FDA has cleared over 20 software-based medical treatments, called digital therapeutics, only a handful of them would fall under the new regulation.
