New HHS Study Shows 63-Fold Increase in Medicare Telehealth Utilization During the Pandemic

A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that massive increases in the use of telehealth helped maintain some healthcare access during the COVID-19 pandemic, with specialists like behavioral health providers seeing the highest telehealth utilization relative to other providers. The report, which was produced by researchers in HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and analyzes Medicare fee for service (FFS) data in 2019 and 2020, also highlights that telehealth services were accessed more in urban areas than rural communities, and Black Medicare beneficiaries were less likely than White beneficiaries to utilize telehealth.