Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D.Ore.) and others on his committee would like Medicare to continue to cover telehealth mental health services after the public health emergency ends, according to HealthcareFinanceNews. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Medicare has covered a wide array of telehealth services for the first time, and it has worked well for millions of people with Medicare. But, unless Congress acts swiftly, after the public health emergency ends, Medicare coverage for almost all telehealth services will also end.
Under federal law, Medicare’s coverage of telehealth services will end 151 days after the Covid public health emergency ends. As of now, the public health emergency will end mid-July, but President Biden is expected to extend it at least another 90 days to mid-October and, more likely, through the end of the year. In that event, Medicare coverage of telehealth services would end around July 2023.
There appears to be bi-partisan support on the Senate Finance Committee for Medicare coverage of mental health services delivered by phone or computer, in which case an in-person visit would no longer be required for coverage. A Finance Committee discussion draft clarifies that, if legislation were enacted, everyone with Medicare would be eligible for audio-only or video telehealth mental health services.
The goal is to help increase mental health parity in Medicare, by making it easier to get mental health care. If this policy were to become law, Medicare costs would go up, and Congress would need to find an offset to pay for the increased cost.
A recent poll shows that a wide range of Americans, including people over 65, are more concerned with mental health issues and getting care to treat these issues. During the pandemic, people used telehealth services in large part to treat mental and behavioral issues.
Logic and reason would dictate that a move for Medicare to cover mental health telehealth services would allow more people with Medicare to benefit from mental health care. However, outreach would be critical to ensure that not only better-educated and more affluent individuals benefited. There’s some evidence from a recent study of cancer patients that coverage of telehealth services for mental health care could widen health disparities. In the study of cancer patients, Black and uninsured individuals and people who live in rural areas and had lower incomes were less likely to use telehealth services.
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