A study published in Health Services Research found that Medicaid coverage of telehealth services was associated with significant increases in telehealth use and healthcare access among Medicaid beneficiaries. The study also found that Medicaid telehealth coverage requirements were linked to a 10.42 percentage-point increase in same-day appointments and an 11.12 percentage-point increase in always being able to access needed care.
A study published in Health Services Research found that Medicaid coverage of telehealth services was associated with significant increases in telehealth use and healthcare access, but private insurer coverage of telehealth during the same period was not similarly linked to increases in use and access.
The study, which analyzed survey data from the 2013-2019 Association of American Medical Colleges Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, found that Medicaid telehealth coverage requirements were linked to a 6.01 percentage-point increase in the use of live video communication, while private telehealth coverage requirements were associated with a 0.27 percentage point increase in the use of live video communication in the past year, which was not statistically significant.
The study also found that Medicaid telehealth coverage requirements were associated with a 10.42 percentage-point increase in same-day appointments and an 11.12 percentage-point increase in always being able to access needed care. Private telehealth coverage requirements were linked to a 2.04 and 0.60 percentage-point increase in the two measures, respectively.
The study authors noted that Medicaid beneficiaries typically face more barriers to healthcare access than privately insured individuals, including lower access to transportation and greater difficulty in taking time off from work. They wrote that “access to covered telemedicine services could alleviate some of these barriers by eliminating the need to travel to see a provider, which may explain in part the larger response to telemedicine coverage among Medicaid enrollees relative to the privately insured in our study.”
The study’s findings suggest that Medicaid coverage of telehealth services can help to increase telehealth use and healthcare access among Medicaid beneficiaries. The study authors stated that the study results could help “inform future policymaking efforts as telemedicine visit rates decrease from peak levels and concerns about the spread of infection become less likely to overpower preferences for in-person care.”
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, states expanded telehealth-related Medicaid policies, particularly for telebehavioral healthcare. A KFF report released earlier this year shows that 40 states took at least one policy action to expand Medicaid coverage of behavioral healthcare provided via telehealth. Of these, 39 expanded the categories of Medicaid behavioral health services eligible for telehealth delivery, and all 40 allowed or expanded Medicaid coverage of audio-only behavioral health services.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted the rise in telehealth use among Medicaid beneficiaries. GAO studied telehealth data from five states that had a similar increase between March 2020 and February 2021 and found that 32.5 million healthcare services were delivered via telehealth, significantly higher than the 2.1 million a year prior.
The GAO urged states to collect information regarding the quality of telehealth that Medicaid beneficiaries receive and take the steps needed to enhance care based on this information.