Medicare Telehealth Expansion Could Be Here to Stay. Here's Where Things Stand

A spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said at least 10 million Medicare beneficiaries have used telehealth since early March, versus about 13,000 appointments weekly before, reports CNBC . Although Congress and regulators are considering making the temporary expansion permanent, patient advocates are cautioning against a rush. "We have data about increased utilization, but we don't know much about the beneficiary's experience and what's working and what isn't," said Lindsey Copeland with the Medicare Rights Center. Issues that need to be tackled include quality of care, cost to beneficiaries, and services that are sensible for coverage. "Using it for all circumstances and all services, as we've seen generally through the pandemic, might not be the best possible way forward from both a program cost perspective or beneficiary cost perspective," said Juliette Cubanski with the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another issue concerns beneficiaries' access to technology, and the knowledge to use it. "If we have this expansion in telehealth, we have to do it in a way that doesn't leave those people further behind and increase existing disparities," Copeland emphasized. Policymakers also would have to flag those services most appropriate for telehealth appointments.