Diagnosing the Data: CMS Report Shows Nearly Three Million Medicare Beneficiaries Relied on Telehealth in the First Quarter of 2024

Telehealth Trend Report Underscores Critical Value of Virtual Care for Seniors, People Living With Disabilities and Historically Underserved Communities

New data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstrates telehealth’s staying power as an indispensable tool for Medicare beneficiaries to access care and manage their health — and for the American health care system to break down historically intractable disparities.

The latest CMS Medicare Telehealth Trends Report, which analyzed Medicare Fee-for-Service Part B claims data from January 2020 through the end of March 2024, underscores the urgency for Congressional action to extend critical flexibilities to avert a potential telehealth cliff — and the importance of working toward policy that permanently recognizes and protects access to virtual care.

Key report findings include:

Nearly 3 million Medicare beneficiaries (2,751,044) utilized telehealth in the first quarter of 2024. 

• Since the second quarter of 2023, telehealth utilization has seen a consistent, moderate rise among eligible Medicare users, as more find value in this critical mode of care and as service offerings and technology advance.
• The data further underscores telehealth utilization has remained stable, with no sign of regression, after a natural decline from a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telehealth plays a crucial role in breaking down barriers to care for historically underserved communities.

• Asian and Pacific Islander Medicare users were the most frequent users of telehealth services, closely followed by Hispanic and Black users. 
• These communities often face more considerable disparities in access and quality of health care. Through telehealth services, reliable health care from a quality provider is more accessible than ever before – regardless of a user’s zip code, access to transportation, or other factors that can be barriers to care.

This is especially true for Medicare beneficiaries living with disabilities, who utilized telehealth at the highest rate of any category of user.

• One in every four Medicare beneficiaries living with disabilities utilized telehealth services during the period covered by the data. 
• An even higher percentage of disabled beneficiaries from historically underserved communities relied on telehealth to access critical care, including Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic users.

Congress must recognize the critical importance of action to protect access to telehealth, both in the immediate future, and with permanent policy. 

Read the Medicare Telehealth Trends Report HERE. 
Learn more about how Congress can protect access to these critical services at www.telehealthaccessforamerica.org.