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Medicare telehealth to be extended under bill ready for House vote


As many Medicare beneficiaries know, booking a doctor’s appointment via video on a laptop or tablet has become the norm as the pandemic hits.

This approach of providing telehealth – known as telehealth – to many retirees and most of the over-65s group may have some staying power, at least for now.

House lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill this week – possibly as early as Wednesday – aimed at extending, until the end of 2024, pandemic-related flexible rules allow widespread use of telemedicine in Medicare. Some 55.8 million of the program’s 64.3 million beneficiaries are aged 65 or older, and the remaining 8 million younger are permanently disabled, according to government figures.

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“I think in the future there will be an ongoing need that needs to be met with continued flexibility,” said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Medicare policy program.

The extension will give professionals “time to review usage data and learn more about appropriate telehealth uses and possible inappropriate uses,” Cubanski said. “It gives people a chance to dig a little deeper.”

If the bill is removed from the House, it will also need to be approved by the Senate. Meanwhile, efforts to promote proposals that could make remote health changes permanent have stalled.

It gives people a chance to dig a little deeper.

Juliette Cubanski

Kaiser Family Foundation’s deputy director of Medicare policy programs

In March 2020, as communities worked to contain the spread of the coronavirus through temporary business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, lawmakers and regulators relaxed policies to make telehealth through Medicare more widely available during the pandemic.

The previous trend of collecting steam in the middle of a pandemic

Before that, telehealth had been slow to move towards wider use in Medicare. However, it is often limited to rural areas, with restrictions on where telemedicine visits can be performed and which providers are authorized to provide such care.

During a pandemic-related public health emergency, beneficiaries can stay in their own homes, and the list of eligible services and providers is vastly expanded, from from the emergency department to group psychotherapy to radiation treatment management.

However, the looser interim guidelines are expected to expire five months after the public emergency ends. That statement, last renewed in July, will expire on October 14 unless the Biden administration renews it again.

“If it ends in October, these remote flexibility will end in March,” Cubanski said.

The president is expected to issue a 60-day warning – in mid-August – if he plans to allow the state of emergency to lapse.

It should also be noted that at the end of last year, Congress passed a number of permanent changes to use telehealth for mental health services under Medicare, including removing geographic restrictions and allowing beneficiaries to receive that care at home via video or in some cases by phone phone, with certain limitations.

A temporary restitution related to such in-person visits to care will be extended under a bill the House is expected to vote on this week.

How much does a telemedicine visit cost?

Follow research from the Kaiser Family Foundation. This includes 38% of beneficiaries in traditional Medicare (Part A hospital insurance and Part B outpatient care insurance) and 49% of Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) enrollees.

The cost of a remote appointment – whether video or audio – depends on the specifics of the beneficiary’s coverage. While providers and insurance plans may have waived or reduced cost sharing (i.e. copays or coinsurance) for earlier in-person sessions during the pandemic, they may have keep charging you as if it were an in-person visit.

Telehealth appointments are usually made through Part B. If you’re on traditional Medicare without additional coverage, Part B comes with a $233 deductible in 2022 and then you’d normally cover 20 % Service costs. And of course, that’s on top of the standard monthly Part B premium of $170.10 (for 2022).

If you have supplemental coverage through a so-called Medigap policy, the 20% coinsurance will be covered in whole or in part, although the Part B deductible may be nil, especially if it is a policy. newer books.

For beneficiaries who choose to receive their Part A and B benefits through a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C), the cost of remote appointments depends on the specifics of your plan. This year, 95% of Advantage Plans are offering benefits remotely, according to the Better Medicare Alliance.



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