Telehealth use surged with the COVID-19 pandemic as patients sought access to services while providers implemented social distancing protocols. Early in the pandemic, many payers eased restrictions on the use of telehealth and increased reimbursement rates to encourage its use. An ongoing question is how the growth of telehealth will affect health spending. If payers reimburse services provided through telehealth at a lower rate, there could be cost savings. Alternatively, if telehealth encourages the use of more services, total spending could increase.
Read the full article: Early in the Pandemic, Private Insurer Payments for Telehealth and In-Person Claims Were Similar //
Source: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/telehealth-payments-similar-early-in-the-pandemic