Please NOTE: Telehealth has been suspended 10/1/25 for MEDICARE recipients which means Medicare won't pay for a telehealth visit. We have reached out to the Benefits office for clarification on this from Cigna whether they will still cover this service if Medicare will not.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump and Congress put into place a program that allowed people on Medicare to get their health care over the Internet.
The policy proved wildly popular. Nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries received telehealth services in 2020 in an effort to keep their distance from hospitals and doctor’s offices during the pandemic.
But the program expired Sept. 30 without Congressional action, which would left millions of seniors suddenly unable to access the telehealth care that allowed them to avoid long drives and crowded waiting rooms. The program has been threatened before—Congress had to extend it in 2021, 2022, 2023, and in March 2025—but telehealth advocates say that they have little hope that the program will be saved in time for services to avoid disruption.
Another program called acute hospital care at home, which allows convalescing patients to be discharged and receive monitored care at home, is also set to expire Sept. 30 without Congressional action. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said that all patients must be discharged or returned to the hospital on Sept. 30.
Before the pandemic, it was extremely difficult for Medicare patients to qualify to get telehealth care. They had to live in a rural area classified a certain way, and they had to receive their telehealth services in a certain type of location—often a medical office. Congress passed waivers to those rules in the beginning of the pandemic, which are often referred to now as Medicare telehealth flexibilities.
Most mental-health telecare services under Medicare will continue after Sept. 30 because of a separate bill passed in 2021. But for other types of appointments, what will happen next is unclear.
Some providers may continue to offer telehealth to Medicare patients after Sept. 30. The telehealth flexibilities have been extended so many times in the past that many providers may assume they will be extended again, eventually—perhaps with retroactive payment for services rendered before Congress takes action. Smaller providers might not have the financial flexibility to do that, though. They may try to reschedule telehealth patients for a few weeks or months down the line, at which time they hope Congress will have acted.
Google says your passwords are safe for now, but don’t wait to take action. Turn on passkeys for phishing-proof logins, run a Google Security Checkup, and never trust an unexpected call claiming to be from Google. Once your info is out there, it’s out there, but how you protect yourself next is what counts.
Watch out for this clever phishing scam that hooks you: Hackers are slipping the Japanese character “ん” (pronounced like a soft “n” and called a hiragana) into legitimate website URLs, replacing a normal slash “/.” To the naked eye, it looks normal, but click, and you’re headed straight to a malware buffet. This works because “ん” is part of Unicode, so browsers treat it as a valid web address character. Even pros can miss it at first glance. Bonus scam: fake “Intuit” emails where the “i” is swapped for a lowercase “L.” Your eyesight is the target, so always hover over links and check the real domain before you click.
Hello! This is your reminder to check that information within your secure myASRS account is up-to-date. We suggest logging into your account at least once a year to make sure that:
Some additional important notes:
Be sure to check your RECOM, City of Mesa health insurance, ASRS, PSPRs, Social Security, etc., at least once a year to ensure that all your information on file is still correct. Check your mailing address, email address, phone number, or beneficiary information. It's important to keep it current to be sure you get important communications that can be sent from providers.
Remember to register your Deferred Compensation account online with your email address and phone number. Keep that information up-to-date. When activity occurs on a participant account, Empower proactively sends that participant security alerts via all points of contact they have for them. Participants are encouraged to contact Empower directly if they don’t recognize any such activity or have questions about alerts. Empower Client Services 800-701-8255.
Diabetes monitor recall: Over 2 million Dexcom glucose devices are being recalled because they might not sound alarms when blood sugar is too high or low. That could be life-threatening. Affected models include the G6 Receiver, G7 Receiver, Dexcom One+ and Dexcom One. Check your SKU. If yours is listed, call 1-844-478-1600 for a free replacement.
Follow these 3 tips to protect yourself from Medicare fraud and scams:
If you get a call, text or email asking for your Medicare Number, don't respond. Don't give your Medicare card or Medicare Number to anyone except your doctor or people you know should have it.
Check your Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs) or claims statements carefully. If you see a charge for a service you didn't get or a product you didn't order, it may be fraud. If you suspect fraud, report it at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or Reporting Medicare fraud & abuse | Medicare.
Guard your Medicare card like it's a credit card.
Take advantage of your free dental visits – prioritize your oral health and schedule your appointments today!
Our Delta Dental Plans now include three free cleanings per year!
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