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Telehealth use skyrocketed during the early months of the pandemic. While it has since decreased somewhat from that high, it still represents a much more substantial share of health care than before COVID, this KFF-Epic Research analysis finds.
This post looks at a new contactless method of providing medication abortions and now this can be and has been used in response to the pandemic. The post also examines state policies that act as barriers to implementing these new protocols.
To increase health care accessibility and limit risk of exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic, all fifty states and DC are expanding telehealth access for Medicaid beneficiaries. This issue brief highlights recently released federal guidance to assist Medicaid programs in developing telehealth policies in response to the COVID-19, discusses trends in state Medicaid activity to expand coverage and access to telehealth, and highlights state and federal activity support provider infrastructure and patient access to telehealth.
A new KFF survey of obstetrician-gynecologists (OBGYNs) offers insight into how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the provision of sexual and reproductive health care, including the growth of telehealth and the ongoing challenges and limitations of such medical visits. Key findings from the survey, which was conducted from July to September 2020, include: The majority of OBGYNs worry that patients who have experienced delays in sexual and reproductive health care will face negative health consequences…
Use of digital behavioral health services increased during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person visits were limited. This brief examines how different types of mental health apps are used, how federal policies during the pandemic affected the scope of services they could provide, and key issues to watch.
As HB7 is implemented later this year...it is likely that “copycat” legislation will be adopted in other states that wish to restrict access to medication abortion via telehealth within their borders.
A new analysis finds that most people with individual or fully-insured group market coverage are in plans that waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment, though many of those waivers are set to expire in the coming months. About 88% - nearly nine in ten - enrollees in the individual and fully-insured group markets are covered by plans that have taken action to limit out-of-pocket costs for patients undergoing treatment for COVID-19 since the start of the…
This brief analyzes the changes to telehealth regulation and implementation made by the federal government, state governments and health systems in response to the COVID-19 emergency. We outline key changes to telemedicine coverage, for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.
From a nationally representative sample of 855 office-based U.S. OBGYNs, this brief shows how OBGYNs have adapted their provision of sexual and reproductive health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many OBGYNs have rapidly adopted telehealth, but not without challenges.
This brief provides an overview of changes in coverage of telehealth under traditional Medicare before the coronavirus pandemic, and estimates changes in use of telehealth services using survey data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) during the pandemic. The analysis also discusses issues and questions related to extending telehealth coverage under traditional Medicare beyond the public health emergency.
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