How Will Future Policy Affect Citizens' Access to Telehealth?

Source: Gov Tech Published: July 24, 2020

In all likelihood, many Americans never considered telehealth an option before COVID-19. But between mid-March and mid-June of 2020, more than 9 million Medicare beneficiaries have used a telehealth service, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

To put that number in context, only about 13,000 beneficiaries would use telehealth services during a given week before the pandemic.

“One of the first steps CMS took in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency was to temporarily expand the scope of Medicare telehealth to allow Medicare beneficiaries across the country — not just in rural areas — to receive telehealth services from any location, including their homes,” wrote CMS Administrator Seema Verma in Health Affairs. “CMS also added 135 allowable services … [and] ensured that health care providers like physicians were paid for these telehealth services at the same payment rate as they would receive for in-person services.”