Telehealth and Telemedicine Accelerate into the Mainstream
by EideBailly
Expanded Medicare telehealth coverage was released by the Trump administration in early 2020. It enabled beneficiaries to receive a wider range of healthcare services from their doctors without having to travel to a healthcare facility. Medicare, which is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), would start temporarily paying clinicians to provide telehealth services for beneficiaries residing across the country.
Here, we’ll explore the evolution of telehealth and telemedicine from being covered as an emergency measure toward going mainstream and sought-after on all fronts.
What Was Initially Included in Telehealth Expansion
On March 13, 2020, President Trump announced an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act. Consistent with President Trump’s emergency declaration, CMS expanded Medicare’s telehealth benefits under the 1135 waiver authority and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act. This guidance and other actions by CMS provided regulatory flexibility to ensure all Americans, including high-risk individuals, were aware of easy-to-use, accessible benefits while helping to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
A range of healthcare providers such as doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers were then able to offer telehealth to Medicare beneficiaries. Beneficiaries could receive telehealth services in any healthcare facility, including a physician’s office, hospital, nursing home or rural health clinic, as well as from their homes. Services they could receive included:
Common office visits
Mental health counseling
Preventive health screenings
Read the entire article at the EideBailly website: https://www.eidebailly.com/insights/articles/2021/10/telehealth-and-telemedicine-accelerate-into-the-mainstream