Telehealth

The US Department of Health and Human Services, through the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, is releasing a new report showing the dramatic utilization trends of telehealth services for primary care delivery in Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicare in the early days of the coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). This brief seeks to address the issue of how and whether the Medicare telehealth flexibilities introduced to address the COVID-19 pandemic may have helped maintain access to primary health care during the PHE.

As schools now explore virtual education and hospitals expand to digital platforms as viable and safe options during the time of COVID-19, the focus on adequate internet access has moved to center stage. In 2018, rural North Dakota residents had access to better internet service than residents of Englewood in Chicago. A recent report showed that in some parts of Chicago, as many as half of children lack the necessary access to broadband needed to engage in the online educational activities expected of them during the COVID-19 academic disruption.

Reps Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Don Young (R-AK), along with Sens Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), wrote to the Federal Communications Commission about its COVID-19 Telehealth Program. The lawmakers raised concerns about the FCC’s lack of transparency related to the program and asked several questions about its implementation. They asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to answer the following questions no later than July 30:

Our nation’s health depends on immediate action to ensure that Americans urged to stay home can do so. Households that otherwise cannot afford it must receive access to broadband internet and unlimited telephone use. The Senate will very soon consider a coronavirus stimulus package: it must include an emergency communications benefit. The Senate should act to offer low-income households a $50 monthly benefit to obtain faster speed broadband and unlimited talk and text for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.

As state policymakers consider telehealth policy changes, it is critical to consider the continued challenges that both providers and patients face in both accessing and utilizing telehealth interventions. Considering both the public health crisis and future patient needs, Families USA has assembled state policy recommendations around three themes: Improving financing and implementation, Removing provider barriers, and Improving patient access to telehealth services.

Health tech offers major benefits, but policymakers must make it accessible. Whether it’s the cost of devices, sluggish internet speeds, insurance program restrictions or a lack of coverage in rural areas and schools, there can be many hindrances to using telehealth services. “It's really hard if you don't have broadband, or a way to do video to have the kind of virtual care that you might have in a different part of the country,” said former chair of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees Dr.

Telehealth services surged during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet we have to deal with the harsh reality that Black communities disproportionately lack access to the telecommunications services that provide access to critical, life-saving care. This is why I have called for an expansion of the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program, which is the only federal subsidy that offers voice and broadband services at a subsidized rate to low-income Americans, to meet the critical needs of this moment in history.

Nearly 12 million urban household have no access to telehealth, but Federal agencies earmark billions for broadband and telehealth grants targeted to 3.8 million disconnected rural households. Urban communities demand parity with rural community for these grants that their tax dollars and telephone bills support. COVID-19’s disproportionate killing of Black people has thrown into stark relief the many health issues afflicting this population, afflictions that telehealth can mitigate.

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 25 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.  Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $10.73 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. The agency has now approved 539 funding applications in 47 states plus Washington, D.C. and Guam for a total of $200 million in funding—the amount of money provided by Congress in the CARES Act.  Below is a list of health care providers that were approved for funding: