State Efforts to Expand Medicaid Coverage & Access to Telehealth in Response to COVID-19
Issue Brief
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), “Telemedicine,” https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/telemedicine/index.html
A SPA would be necessary to accommodate any revisions to payment methods to account for telehealth costs.
Kathleen Gifford et al., States Focus on Quality and Outcomes Amid Waiver Changes (March 2018), http://files.kff.org/attachment/Report-States-Focus-on-Quality-and-Outcomes-Amid-Waiver-Changes-Results-from-a-50-State-Medicaid-Budget-Survey-for-State-Fiscal-Years-2018-and-2019
“Telehealth in Medicaid” in Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP (Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, March 2018): 30-57, https://www.macpac.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Report-to-Congress-on-Medicaid-and-CHIP-March-2018.pdf
State Telehealth Laws & Reimbursement Policies (Center for Connected Health Policy, Spring 2020), https://www.cchpca.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/CCHP_%2050_STATE_REPORT_SPRING_2020_FINAL.pdf
Absent coverage under state plan, waiver, or demonstration services furnished under telehealth by MCOs can also be provided as “in lieu of” services or additional (or also referred to as “value added”) services. See FAQ #10 under “Managed Care Flexibilities,” https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/downloads/medicaid-chip-telehealth-toolkit.pdf.
Data for the counts of states taking each action to expand telehealth access come from the Center for Connected Health Policy (last updated May 13, 2020), the Federation of State Medical Boards (last updated June 9, 2020), and KFF’s Medicaid Emergency Authority Tracker, as reported by Manatt Health (last updated June 15, 2020). Because these actions do not require CMS approval and are thus not posted in a single place, these counts may be incomplete. Further, states may have taken some actions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may or may not be reflected in the counts.
Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19 (Manatt Health, June 2020), https://www.manatt.com/insights/newsletters/covid-19-update/executive-summary-tracking-telehealth-changes-stat
Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19 (Manatt Health, June 2020), https://www.manatt.com/insights/newsletters/covid-19-update/executive-summary-tracking-telehealth-changes-stat
Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19 (Manatt Health, June 2020), https://www.manatt.com/insights/newsletters/covid-19-update/executive-summary-tracking-telehealth-changes-stat
“Telehealth in Medicaid” in Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP (Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, March 2018): 30-57, https://www.macpac.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Report-to-Congress-on-Medicaid-and-CHIP-March-2018.pdf