IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERSTATE DEFLATIONARY PRESSURES:

Insurers and employers for years have been urging the use of telehealth as a low-cost alternative for nonemergency care. But patients were wary about signing up and Medicare was slow to embrace it, which limited telehealth to certain types of visits for patients in rural areas.

That changed with COVID-19. In response to the pandemic, CMS removed barriers to telehealth coverage, allowing patients throughout the country to access care from their homes.

The agency this year has added 135 services to the list of telehealth it will pay for during this public health crisis, including non-COVID-19 doctor visits, initial inpatient visits with a new practitioner, discharge services and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation treatments. CMS also increased the types of health care providers who can use telehealth, waived patient copays and boosted reimbursement rates to amounts similar to those paid for an in-person visit.

The rule changes have opened up more telehealth options for both Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, an all-in-one alternative offered by private insurers.

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