{"id":32205,"date":"2021-05-19T12:55:40","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T12:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=32205"},"modified":"2021-05-19T12:55:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T12:55:40","slug":"medpac-recommends-limiting-post-covid-19-telehealth-coverage-more-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/medpac-recommends-limiting-post-covid-19-telehealth-coverage-more-study\/","title":{"rendered":"MedPAC Recommends Limiting Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Coverage, More Study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is taking a cautious approach to long-term telehealth policy, telling lawmakers to extend COVID-19 telehealth freedoms for a few years before making any final decisions.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Eric Wicklund<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 16, 2021 – The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is taking a cautious approach to permanent telehealth policy, advising lawmakers to extend some emergency rules for telehealth access and coverage up to a few years after the coronavirus pandemic ends and to keep on studying how these tools and platforms affect healthcare delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MedPAC\u2019s report to Congress<\/a>, released yesterday, will disappoint connected health advocates who had hoped the agency would set a clear path for long-term telehealth policy. But it also underscores the degree to which healthcare delivery has been changed by the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the report, we present a policy option for expanded coverage for Medicare telehealth policy after the PHE is over,\u201d MedPAC says in a press release accompanying the report<\/a>. \u201cUnder the policy option, policymakers should temporarily continue some of the telehealth expansions for a limited duration of time (e.g., one or two years after the PHE) to gather more evidence about the impact of telehealth on beneficiary access to care, quality of care, and program spending to inform any permanent changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency recommends continuing Medicare coverage for telehealth services regardless of where the beneficiary is located, as well as covering audio-only services \u201cif there is potential for clinical benefit\u201d and some new services. It notes that coverage for audio-only services is new, so there\u2019s very little evidence as to whether it reduces costs or improves quality or outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also notes that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had covered roughly 100 telehealth services prior to the pandemic, and has added more than 140 services in the past year. Nine of those new services have been made permanent through the Physician Fee Schedule<\/a>, while about 60 will be covered through the end of the PHE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCMS should continue to temporarily cover select services that the agency determines have the potential for clinical benefit,\u201d the agency says in its report. \u201cWe favor this approach instead of permanently covering all of the telehealth services that are temporarily covered during the PHE. After a period of time, policymakers should use information gathered during the temporary period of coverage to consider permanently covering the additional telehealth services based on the principles of access, quality, and cost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On other measures, MedPAC advocates the return of some polices after the PHE, as well as heightened efforts to identify fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency recommends the CMS return to paying the PFS facility rate for telehealth services provided by providers in distant sites when the PHE ends, while collecting data on the costs that practices incur in using telehealth. This would run counter to arguments in favor of payment parity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe expect the rates for telehealth services to be lower than rates for in-person services because services delivered via telehealth likely do not require the same practice costs as services provided in a physical office,\u201d MedPAC says. \u201cAlthough telehealth may require upfront investments in technology and training, in the long run the marginal cost of a telehealth service should be lower than that of an in-person service. Therefore, continuing to set rates for telehealth services equal to rates for in-office services after the PHE ends could distort prices and lead clinicians to favor telehealth services over comparable in-person services, even when an in-person service may be more clinically appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency also recommends discontinuing allowing providers to reduce or waive cost-sharing for telehealth services. And it recommends additional safeguards to protect Medicare and its beneficiaries from unnecessary spending and fraud. Specifically, CMS should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n