LISTEN: Medicare can no longer reimburse doctors for some telehealth visits after extended COVID-19 public health emergency coverage officially ends in December. That includes providers who might not have an office nearby in some rural parts of Georgia. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge reports.

A health care worker sits at a laptop

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People on Medicare — federal health insurance for anyone age 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions — will soon have to return to in-person visits for certain telehealth visits, including physical therapists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists.

Many of the Medicare telehealth flexibilities that were installed during the COVID-19 public health emergency, which officially ended in May 2023, are set to expire Dec. 31, 2024.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now permanently allows Medicare to cover online therapy sessions, but other appointments must take place at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).

Medicare will still cover mental health care remotely, but it’s a step back to revoke in-home access to these other providers, said Jessica Wagner with RXNT, a cloud-based health care software company.

Wagner also noted that, because of the change, some seniors will now have to drive over well over an hour to see specialists in person they currently see from home.

"In some situations, you know, it seems like we're being kind of nit-picky about what should and should not be covered, when in reality a lot of it should be covered," Wagner said. "We should trust the professional judgment of these medical providers who went through years of school and want to do what's best for their patients. Sometimes that might be an in-office visit, but sometimes they should be able to join, you know, from the comfort of their home. And that is being restricted."

Determining what will and won't be covered is essentially causing providers and patients to have to jump through hoops to meet all of these requirements so that their doctor's visits are covered, she said.

Policymakers and private insurers are making critical decisions about whether to extend and make permanent key telehealth flexibilities that were implemented in response to COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Neurology, which is one of the organizations advocating for change in telehealth after the pandemic.

Tags: Georgia  Atlanta  Mental Health  medicare  Telehealth