America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP): Survey of Telehealth Use by Commercial Insurance Enrollees AHIP released a survey, fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago, which found that 73 percent of commercially-insured telehealth users think that Congress should make permanent the provisions that allowed for coverage of telehealth services before paying their full [...]
Senate Finance Committee: Mental Health Parity Discussion Draft Senate Finance Committee Chair Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member Crapo (R-ID), and Sens. Bennet (D-CO) and Burr (R-NC) released the fifth and final legislative discussion draft as part of the Committee’s bipartisan mental health initiative. This discussion draft included policies aimed at improving mental health parity [...]
On December 1, 2022, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee issued a report on telehealth use and program integrity risks across selected health care programs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the debate on Capitol Hill about the permanent flexibilities in the Medicare program, we focus here on Medicare fee-for-service and [...]
Massachusetts Association of Health Plans: Bridging the Digital Divide Advancing Telehealth Equity A report, funded by the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, describes how telehealth has proven to be widely beneficial for state residents and provides recommendations to optimize virtual care delivery within the Commonwealth. Researchers found that there were many apparent health [...]
This update includes: Alliance for Connected Care Telehealth Data Event News Coverage Alliance signed a letter urging Congress to extend HDHP-HSA Alliance Support a Standardized National System for Interstate Licensure HHS ASPE Report on Medicaid Telehealth and notable research and news developments
Cureus: Bridging the Gap in Graduate Medical Education: A Longitudinal Analysis of Medical and Fellowship Director Experiences in Telehealth This five-year longitudinal survey analysis found that the overall utilization of telehealth by graduate medical education (GME) programs has increased along with the continued need for training to prepare residents for current and future [...]
MD Linx: Caring for Out-of-State Patients When Telemedicine is Restricted During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers temporarily changed state laws to allow physicians without a license in a particular state to treat its residents via telemedicine. Between January and June of 2021, among Medicare beneficiaries, 57.2 percent of out-of-state telemedicine visits [...]
This update includes: Alliance for Connected Care Telehealth Data Event Recording and Handout Available Alliance signed a letter urging Congress to extend HDHP-HSA Alliance joined a letter urging the DEA to advance the proposed rules on the Special Registration for Telemedicine and notable research and news developments
Health Affairs: New Coding Modifier Offers Opportunity to Investigate Audio-Only Telehealth (11/18) – Prior to the pandemic, Medicaid program coverage of audio-only telehealth services was limited. During the early stages of the pandemic, Medicaid beneficiaries were significantly less likely to complete telehealth visits compared to commercially insured patients. In September 2021, the American Medical [...]
On November 17, 2022, the Alliance for Connected Care and the Healthcare Leadership Council held a virtual discussion about telehealth data on November 17, 2022. Attendees heard from Dr. Ethan Booker from MedStar, Dr. Jackie Gerhart from Epic, and Brenna O'Malley from Ascension on current telehealth data and implications on health care utilization, [...]