The federal agency charged with examining how taxpayer dollars are spent reports on the effects of temporary waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to ease the use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. For beneficiaries of Medicare – the public health insurance that allows access to care for those who are 65 years and older, and younger people with certain disabilities – use of telehealth increased from about 5 million services pre-pandemic to more than 53 million services from April to December 2020. GAO also found that, while telehealth use increased across all provider specialties, 5 percent of providers delivered over 40 percent of services. The difference in telehealth use between rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries was slight – 33 percent versus 39 percent respectively. In considering whether to make these changes permanent, GAO makes three recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: 1) clarify guidance for billing audio-only telehealth to allow tracking of these visits, 2) require providers to use available place of service codes, and 3) make a comprehensive assessment of the quality of services delivered via telehealth to insure improved outcomes for patients.
