Patients needing care should not fear catching an illness from a doctor’s office, said U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in a press release Friday.
Telehealth, Blackburn said, has proven an immensely beneficial form of delivering treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new rule to increase telehealth access for Medicare Advantage recipients in rural areas is a solid step toward expanding coverage for Americans in need, Blackburn said.
Following Blackburn’s push to expand telehealth accessibility, the Trump administration identified actions to clear barriers to its use. Americans have utilized this health care delivery method at unprecedented speed. From March 2 to April 14, urgent care telehealth visits increased 135 percent, and nonurgent visits increased 4,345 percent. The virtual appointments triaged potential COVID-19 patients to emergency rooms and doctors’ offices, thereby reducing further spread of the virus, according to Blackburn’s press release.
“The increased use of telehealth has resulted in more services in more places by more providers,” Blackburn said.
“Congress must continue to support this expansion and codify the administration’s changes to support the health needs of the American people.”
Telehealth has proven an effective alternative for a broad range of patients in the following ways, Blackburn said.
• The flexibility telehealth provides for children with autism and their parents results in better care, a group of doctors told Blackburn’s health policy team. Taking a child with autism to an appointment can require parents to take off a full day of work and is stressful for the child. Telehealth visits not only enable the provider to see the child in his or her natural environment, but it also give the parents more flexibility.
• In 2019, nearly one million veterans received care through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ telehealth services. When the VA expanded its telehealth appointments in response to COVID-19, over two million prescriptions were refilled online in March 2020, the largest number in a single month. As VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, telehealth expansion “is one of the most significant things the department has done” with regard to its COVID-19 response efforts.
• Telehealth enables providers to reach mental health patients that might otherwise face increased stress while in-person visits are not possible.
• Seniors with chronic conditions have also been able to check in with their primary care doctors to receive medication refills, routine care, and advice without being exposed to COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has spurred private insurance companies to recognize the convenience of telehealth services. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the largest private insurer in the state, has pledged to permanently cover telehealth services for Tennesseans. For those using Medicare Part B, most telehealth visits cost the same as in person services. Medicaid plans also cover some telehealth services. Patients should check with their doctors and health insurance provider for information specific to their healthcare plan, Blackburn’s press release said.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Telehealth may have had a place when people were unnecessarily locked in their homes but it is no substitute for face-to-face medical services.