GAO Issues Report on Medicare Telehealth Services

To help patients access care during the pandemic, Medicare temporarily waived restrictions on telehealth services. According to CMS data, the use of telehealth rose significantly during the pandemic – 53 million telehealth visits in April to December 2020 compared to just 5 million during the same period in 2019. Accordingly, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review Medicare’s telehealth services under the new flexible waiver authorities. The report describes, among other issues, (1) the enhanced utilization of telehealth services, (2) CMS efforts to identify and monitor risks posed by Medicare telehealth waivers, and (3) a change the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) made to its enforcement of regulations governing patients' protected health information during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The GAO found that the waivers and other flexibilities that HHS issued in March 2020 have allowed services to be safely delivered and received during the pandemic. There is stakeholder interest in making these changes permanent. However, the GAO and others have noted that extending such flexibility without imposing additional safeguards may increase spending and pose new risks of fraud, waste, and abuse.