Telehealth Saves Money And Lives: Lessons From The Covid-19 Pandemic

Progressive Policy Institute and Americans for Prosperity: Telehealth Saves Money And Lives: Lessons From The Covid-19 Pandemic

Using aggregated, de-identified data from FAIR Health, the organizations’ study found that while telehealth patients’ costs started higher than in-person patients’ costs, the average telehealth patients’ health care costs fell 61%, from $1,099 per month to $425 per month between January 2020 and February 2021. Additionally, people who used telehealth had lower overall health care utilization compared with people who used only in-person care, except during the early months of the pandemic, March to May 2020. The “study confirms a promising trend toward cost savings for patients who use a combination of in-person and telehealth services,” the authors note. Furthermore, the authors state that “These results should give lawmakers confidence to extend the telehealth provisions of the public health emergency rather than letting them expire.”