Coverage rollback: RPM medical necessity

Insurers Rolling Back RPM Coverage in 2026 -- What Practices Must Change Now

Q: Does this mean RPM is ending in 2026?

No. Some payers are narrowing what they consider medically necessary RPM, but Medicare continues broad coverage when baseline requirements are met. The shift is about payer policy alignment, not the existence of RPM codes.

Q: If we meet CPT requirements, will claims still pay?

Not necessarily. CPT compliance is required, but payer medical policies can still deny RPM for indications they consider unproven or not medically necessary. Eligibility has to be validated against the payer's policy.

Q: Is this only a Medicare Advantage issue?

No. UHC's published policies include commercial and individual exchange plans as well as Medicare Advantage. Coverage variability exists across payers and products, so verification is required for each member.

Q: Can switching to SMBP codes solve hypertension denials?

Possibly, depending on payer coverage. Some payers explicitly distinguish RPM versus SMBP. You must confirm that the furnished service and diagnosis meet the plan's coverage rules for the code.

Operational playbook to prevent denials, clawbacks, and vendor-driven leakage as payer policies tighten.

Last updated: December 18, 2025

For practice owners, billing managers, compliance leads, RPM operators

How to use this page: Use this operational compliance guide to (1) identify patients exposed to coverage rollbacks, (2) tighten medical-necessity documentation, and (3) redesign workflows before denials accumulate. Confirm requirements with the member's benefit plan and the payer's current medical policy.

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Payer

UnitedHealthcare (Commercial + Individual Exchange + Medicare Advantage)

Change effective

January 1, 2026

Policy type

Medical necessity / coverage limitation for Remote Physiologic Monitoring (RPM)

One-sentence thesis

Large insurers are narrowing what they consider medically necessary RPM, so correct CPT coding alone will not keep claims payable.

Practical consequence

If your RPM population is heavy on hypertension, diabetes, COPD, or other chronic conditions, expect denials or non-payment unless the payer's policy explicitly supports the indication and your documentation matches it. UHC policies restrict RPM coverage to heart failure and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy starting January 1, 2026.

Who this affects: any practice billing RPM codes (including CPT 99453, 99454, 99457, 99458) to commercial and Medicare Advantage payers--especially programs built around common chronic monitoring that assumed payer alignment with Medicare's broader posture.

Section index

Key Takeaway in One Sentence
What the payer policies actually say
What people commonly get wrong
Why the failure patterns don't survive audits
Edge cases and clarifications
Forward-looking policy trajectory
Practical implications for practices
Planning checklist
How this fits the bigger CMS/payer story
How FairPath enforces this at scale
FAQ
References

Key Takeaway in One Sentence

If a payer's medical policy limits RPM to specific indications, billing RPM CPT codes outside those indications is likely to be denied or recouped--even when CPT requirements are met--so eligibility must be validated at the payer-policy level, not just at the code-descriptor level.

Core rule explanation: what the policies actually say

1) UnitedHealthcare (effective January 1, 2026)

Commercial/exchange and Medicare Advantage policies state RPM is covered only when the individual has heart failure or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
For other indications, UHC treats RPM as unproven/not medically necessary (commercial) or not reasonable and necessary (Medicare Advantage) due to insufficient evidence.
UHC notes no Medicare NCD/LCD exists for RPM and directs coverage to its own rationale before listing the covered indications and non-covered conditions such as diabetes, COPD, and hypertension outside HDP.

2) Medicare fee-for-service remains broader

CMS MLN guidance reiterates baseline RPM requirements: patient consent, established relationship, 16 days per 30 days for the device supply code, and medical necessity.
OIG highlights that Medicare broadly covers RPM for acute and chronic conditions while recommending safeguards and pointing to program-integrity risks.
Broad Medicare coverage does not prevent payers from narrowing; operators must handle payer-specific limitations upstream.

3) Cigna: public policy versus reported tightening

Cigna's public policy for RPM/RTM/SMBP states coverage varies by plan and directs providers to consult the benefit plan document.
The policy lists medically necessary indications (e.g., COPD, diabetes, gestational diabetes, heart failure, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy) when criteria are met, and covers SMBP scenarios.
Local reporting on December 9, 2025 describes Cigna refusing remote BP monitoring for pregnant patients unless the pregnancy is high risk--treat this as a signal to verify benefit specifics at the product level.

4) Coverage variability across other insurers

Anthem/BCBS frameworks emphasize documented clinical rationale, risk of significant change, and likelihood that monitoring prevents deterioration rather than restricting to two diagnoses.
Operationally, workflows must support both diagnosis-restricted policies and documentation-driven medical necessity policies.

Common failure patterns and traps

Assuming CPT coverage equals payer coverage. RPM codes exist and Medicare pays when requirements are met, but payer medical policy can still declare RPM unproven/not medically necessary for common conditions.
Continuing RPM billing on hypertension without distinguishing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Loose documentation, nonspecific ICD-10 coding, and missing linkage to HDP monitoring plans create denials.
Device-only RPM (99454) without defensible clinical monitoring plans. Oversight bodies scrutinize patterns where treatment management is absent.
Not aligning enrollment criteria to the payer's definition of medical necessity. Diagnosis-restricted and documentation-driven models require payer-specific eligibility gates.
Failing to verify benefit plan/product differences. Coverage can vary by plan design even within the same insurer brand.

Why these patterns don't survive audits or recoupment

Medical necessity is a coverage gate. If the payer's policy excludes the indication, the claim is exposed even with perfect CPT compliance.
Payers and oversight bodies monitor billing patterns (e.g., no prior relationship, multiple devices, weak treatment management). High-volume, weak-controls programs attract scrutiny.
Medicare Advantage adds visibility; OIG analyses incorporate both fee-for-service claims and MA encounter data, reinforcing payer-specific risk.

Edge cases and clarifications

If the patient has heart failure and diabetes, coverage depends on RPM supporting heart failure with documentation and diagnosis coding that reflects that indication.
For pregnancy + hypertension, treat hypertensive disorders of pregnancy as a specific classification. Require correct coding and documentation tying monitoring to HDP management.
If the patient changes insurance mid-month, rerun benefit verification at billing time, not just at device shipment.
If the payer denies after service, the upstream eligibility/documentation gate was missing. Appeals should be rare, not the primary strategy.
Medicare oversight may tighten in response to OIG recommendations for more auditable data fields--prepare now even where coverage remains broad.

Forward-looking policy trajectory

CMS is keeping RPM viable with clear baseline requirements and no double-counting guardrails.
OIG is pushing CMS toward tighter oversight and more auditable data fields while publishing analyses of fraud-risk patterns.
Payers are narrowing front-end coverage (example: UHC) or applying documentation-intensive medical necessity frameworks (example: Anthem), creating a bifurcated operating environment.

Surviving programs will look like condition-justified, documentation-complete, payer-policy-aligned services--not mass enrollment plus automated billing.

Practical implications for practices

What you must stop doing

Enrolling and billing RPM on generic chronic diagnoses without payer-policy eligibility checks.
Treating medical necessity as a templated paragraph instead of a coverage gate.
Letting vendor/device workflows drive enrollment while billing teams discover policy conflicts at denial time.

What you must change

Build payer-policy eligibility into intake and monthly billing (payer, product, indication, documentation).
Tighten diagnosis specificity and tie the monitored parameter to a documented management plan (especially for HDP carveouts).
Instrument RPM workflows to prove setup, device supply/data transmission, and treatment management components.

What you must monitor more closely

Denials by payer and diagnosis cluster to catch policy-driven patterns.
Prior relationship/established patient compliance as highlighted in CMS guidance and OIG analyses.
Device-only patterns and low-touch treatment management utilization that trigger oversight scrutiny.

Planning checklist

Inventory the active RPM panel by payer, product (MA/commercial/exchange), and primary monitored condition.
Map each payer to its medical policy stance: diagnosis-restricted versus documentation-driven.
For UHC members, flag patients whose RPM indication is not heart failure or HDP and plan transitions before January 1, 2026.
Standardize HDP definitions, coding, and documentation for OB workflows at enrollment.
Update consent and established relationship workflows to align with CMS baseline requirements.
Update monthly billing QA to include payer-policy eligibility as a hard gate.
Train staff on coverage variability and build an appeal playbook for ambiguous cases without relying on appeals as the strategy.

How this fits the bigger CMS/payer story

CMS signals that remote care is part of standard care, but must be billable, auditable, and not duplicative. Baseline guardrails include consent, the 16-day rule for device supply, no concurrent RPM+RTM, and no double-counted time with other care management services.

Payers are diverging: some narrow RPM by indication (UHC), others maintain broader coverage with stronger clinical rationale (Anthem framework). Oversight bodies push for tighter data fields and auditability, pointing toward future compliance requirements regardless of payer generosity.

Strategically, RPM must be operationalized like a compliance-managed service line, not a device program.

How FairPath enforces this at scale

Policy-aware eligibility gating blocks enrollment and monthly billing unless payer-policy indication criteria are satisfied (e.g., UHC requires heart failure or HDP) before claims are generated.
Documentation prompts align to payer logic so charts match medical-necessity models for diagnosis-restricted and documentation-driven payers.
Audit-trail integrity treats RPM as a chain of required facts--consent, relationship, data days, treatment management--aligned to CMS requirements and OIG scrutiny themes.

FAQ

1

Does this mean RPM is “ending” in 2026?

No. Some payers are narrowing RPM indications, even as Medicare continues broader coverage and oversight evolves.

2

If I meet CPT requirements, shouldn't the claim pay?

Not necessarily. CPT compliance is necessary, but payer medical policies can deny if the indication is outside coverage.

3

Is this only Medicare Advantage?

No. UHC policies span commercial, individual exchange, and Medicare Advantage. Coverage varies across payers and products, so verify each member's benefits.

4

If a payer restricts RPM indications, can I switch to SMBP codes for hypertension?

Possibly, depending on payer coverage. Some payers distinguish RPM and SMBP explicitly; verify the benefit and ensure the furnished service matches code requirements.

5

What should OB practices do about pregnancy BP monitoring?

Treat pregnancy-related monitoring as policy-sensitive: require accurate HDP classification and coding, verify benefit specifics, and document the management plan between visits.

6

Will CMS tighten RPM rules because of OIG?

OIG has recommended additional safeguards and expanded claim-level data. Even without immediate rule changes, the direction is toward more auditable RPM, so build defensible workflows now.

References

UnitedHealthcare Commercial & Individual Exchange Medical Policy: Remote Physiologic Monitoring (effective 01/01/2026).
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Medical Policy: Remote Physiologic Monitoring (effective 01/01/2026).
CMS MLN Booklet: Telehealth & Remote Patient Monitoring (April 2025).
HHS OIG: Additional Oversight of Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare Is Needed (09/24/2024).
HHS OIG: Billing for Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare (2025).
Cigna Medical Coverage Policy 0563: Remote Physiologic Monitoring (RPM) and Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) (coverage varies by plan).
Anthem Medical Policy CG-MED-91: Remote Therapeutic and Physiologic Monitoring Services.
STAT News reporting on UHC RPM coverage change (Nov 7, 2025).
Fierce Healthcare reporting with UHC spokesperson statement (Nov 2025).
Local news report on Cigna pregnancy monitoring tightening (Dec 9, 2025).