Telemedicine Reimbursement Changes and Health Care Contact Days for Older Adults

To what extent does telemedicine offset in-person health care contact days among older adults?In this nationally representative, cross-sectional study of 5151 traditional Medicare beneficiaries in 2022, most adults using telemedicine would experience additional health care contact days if telemedicine waivers expired and all affected telemedicine services were substituted with in-person services. Those with more chronic conditions and difficulty getting places had higher odds of additional contact days.These findings suggest that most older adults using telemedicine could face additional health care contact days with telemedicine waiver expiration, contributing to burdens for patients who already experience access barriers and are most in need of care.

Corresponding Author: Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 41 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115 (iganguli@bwh.harvard.edu).

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