The Trump administration chose to add more than 60 telehealth services that will be reimbursable during the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes to telehealth coverage will be permitted permanently in rural areas.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added telehealth services as part of the final Physician Fee Schedule. The agency said that it added many services to category one and it includes services on the lines of office visits or psychiatry services and consultations. Services added were group psychotherapy, psychological testing and home visits.

Services to the Medicare telehealth list category three were also added and those included therapy services, emergency department visits, and hospital discharge day management.

CMS created a temporary category of conditions to add telehealth services during the pandemic. Though it will continue to exist after the emergency period ends.

A permanent coverage expansion across the U.S. will need an act of Congress. Only certain areas will continue getting telehealth services after this public health emergency. The public health emergency is set to expire in January and can be postponed.

These additions permit beneficiaries in rural areas in medical facilities like nursing homes to continue getting access to telehealth facilities like emergency department visits, critical care services and therapy services, mentioned CMS.

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will continue to get access to telehealth facilities post the public health emergency. Infact, Medicare lacks the statutory authority to permanently expand services to areas outside rural ones, barring certain exceptions.

In order to provide these telehealth services in those categories to Medicare beneficiaries across the U.S. they need the Telehealth Modernization Act presented to the Senate in July to remove the rural restrictions said Ryan Bailey, vice president with the consulting firm Advis.

CMS is planning a study on the telehealth flexibilities it provided during the pandemic and since its beginning, CMS added 144 telehealth services to be covered.

CMS reported that according to the preliminary data from mid-March to mid-October, above 24.5 million people out of 63 million Medicare beneficiaries availed to the telemedicine service.