Resources & Reports

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) policies for Medicare last week. Unless otherwise noted, the policies will take effect on January 1, 2022. Much of the proposals published in July 2021 for public commentary remain intact, but CMS did make several modifications and clarifications. Other changes were also finalized for CY 2022. To read a more detailed description and analysis view CCHP’s fact sheet.  To read the full PFS, download the unpublished version. The published version will appear in the Federal Register on November 19, 2021.

CCHP November Newsletter is here! This month’s topics include: Final CY 2022 PFS and Telemental Health Policies, Federal Public Health Emergency Renewed into January, Extending Telehealth Flexibilities, New Variations in Telehealth Private Payer Laws to Watch, CMS Releases Medicaid Telehealth Utilization Data, Place of Service Code Update, AHRQ Requests Data on Telehealth during COVID-19 Era from Public, CCHP’s Fall 2021 Summary, Chart & Infographic Released Highlighting Recent Telehealth Policy Changes, JD Power Survey on Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth Satisfaction, CMS Funds Four States to Expand Telehealth through Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) released a telehealth report on October 18^th that looked at the relationship between providers and Medicare patients utilizing telehealth between March and December 2020. Specifically, HHS-OIG examined encounter claims data to determine the presence of pre-existing relationships, dates of any prior visits, and the types of services provided. Interestingly, it was found that though pre-pandemic requirements limiting telehealth visits to established patients were waived, 84% of visits still occurred within those parameters.

Today the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) is releasing its bi-annual summary of state telehealth policy changes for Fall 2021.  Additionally, we are also making available a summary chart showing where states stand on many key telehealth policies, as well as an infographic  highlighting our key findings.  Historically, CCHP has released twice a year (Spring and Fall) updates to its “State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies” report in the form of a PDF report document that details all the telehealth policies for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

With a grant from the Federation of State Medical Board Foundation (FSMB Foundation), the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) conducted a small study on the use of audio-only to treat Medicaid patients in a federally qualified health center (FQHC).  CCHP selected states to study that at the time the research was being conducted, had the highest number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CCHP examined each state’s pre-pandemic Medicaid fee-for-service policies, what was allowed during COVID-19, and the audio-only policies that were made permanent related to FQHCs.