Milbank Memorial Fund: Assessing the Impact of Medicaid Telehealth Policy Change on Equitable Access to Telehealth Services in North Carolina
Telehealth offer rates and use in North Carolina Medicaid varied by race and ethnicity during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic despite more flexible policies and digital infrastructure investments in rural areas. Improving equitable access to and delivery of telehealth services may include strategies such as maintaining broad telehealth access postpandemic, creating remote “hubs” where patients can access secure technology, and harnessing benefits such as digital technologies to broaden access. Addressing health equity, in particular, may require evaluating strategies such as ensuring providers offer telehealth services to all patients and complete implicit bias training.