Telehealth is an essential part of Minnesota’s care continuum – ensuring those who cannot make it to in-person care have access to providers, and helping with overcrowding in hospitals. But, a rollback of telehealth choices may be coming, including removing coverage for audio-only telehealth, which is important to those without quality internet access.
The Star Tribune’s Jill Burcum said that telehealth’s return-on-investment should be considered – not just the price tag. From the editorial:
The federal rollback of telehealth choices for patients covered by Medicare, which mainly serves those 65 and up, is currently set for March 31. Without congressional action, pre-pandemic policies will go into effect this spring, causing what the American Hospital Association is calling a “telehealth cliff” for the 68 million Americans relying on Medicare...
The state-level rollback of expanded state-level telehealth flexibilities would involve the nearly 1.3 million Minnesotans who rely on Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare, two publicly funded programs for low-income Minnesotans. It would end “audio-only” telehealth access, meaning those who currently seek this care through a regular phone call would now have to switch to an audiovisual technology such as FaceTime on Apple phones or Zoom on computers. While the policy may not seem problematic at first glance, it’s a big deal for those who don’t have a smartphone or aren’t tech-savvy.
