National Senior Citizens Day Highlights Need To Protect Telehealth Access For Seniors
Millions of patients rely on telehealth to access care. As evidenced during the pandemic, and thanks to lifted restrictions in response to COVID-19, this includes over 37 million Medicare beneficiaries. As we recognize National Senior Citizens Day nationwide, we reflect on the positive impact of telehealth Medicare flexibilities and the urgent need for Congress to safeguard virtual care as current flexibilities are set to expire at the end of this year.
Studies have shown that senior patients find telehealth visits to be the same or better than traditional in-person visits with their health provider. One survey showed that “U.S. clinicians use telehealth with older adults at high rates and across a variety of roles, sites of care, and for a variety of clinical purposes.” For seniors, telehealth’s versatility and adaptability are integral to accessing care.
Further, as many seniors deal with stress, lowered mobility, and other external factors that may compound on top of existing symptoms, telehealth can help address some of these barriers. For example, some seniors require assistance traveling to appointments. Telehealth helps eliminate these hurdles associated with in-person visits and allows seniors to meet with providers in their homes and monitor their conditions remotely.
Virtual care is also easy for seniors to learn and access. A 2023 study demonstrated that a fundamental level of tech literacy is required to connect with a provider and is easily achievable by older generations. After conducting a training program that helped seniors learn to do basic telehealth tasks such as using patient portals and contacting their providers, over 50 percent of senior trainees needed “little or no help” using this technology.
Pandemic-era Medicare flexibilities resulted in the rapid expansion of virtual care that many seniors continue to rely on. From 2019 to 2020, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, virtual care use increased 63-fold from 2019 to 2020 among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. And telehealth utilization among Medicare beneficiaries remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 19 percent of Medicare patients used telehealth services at the start of 2022 compared to just seven percent in 2020 before the pandemic.
As these critical flexibilities approach their expiration date at the end of this year, Congress must take action to protect virtual care for the millions of seniors nationwide who rely on it. This includes extending current protections for as long as possible and without onerous restrictions.