The California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) on Tuesday announced that it has retroactively updated the effective date for coverage of telehealth services for injured workers.

DWC is covering the same telehealth services as those being allowed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services effective for services provided on or after March 1, 2020, and will continue to do so throughout the public health emergency. The previous order applied to services on or after April 15, 2020.

According to the DWC order, providers will reimbursed at same rate for telehealth services provided to injured worker as they would for the same services provided in person. When billing for these services, providers should list the same Place of Service that would have been used had the service been provided in person, along with modifier 95 to indicate that the service was provided via telehealth.

For more information about providing telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, see CMA’s Telehealth Toolkit for Physician Practices.