GAO Urges Medicaid to Study the Effects of Telehealth Use

Following the increase in telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) encouraged Medicaid to ensure that beneficiaries receive an exceptional level of care before defining the new normal.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth use universally increased, and it is likely not to decline in the years to come.

This sudden increase occurred prominently among Medicaid beneficiaries. GAO studied telehealth data from five random states that had a similar rise between March 2020 and February 2021. During this time, telehealth delivered 32.5 million services, significantly higher than the 2.1 million a year prior. The number of beneficiaries also increased, rising from 455,000 to 4.9 million.

An example of this occurred In California, for example, 2.5 percent of residents received at least one of their healthcare services via telehealth between March 2019 and February 2020. However, this rose to 41.4 percent between March 2020 and February 2021.

Despite this increase and the benefits of sustained healthcare during the pandemic, GAO acknowledged that Medicaid had not evaluated the quality of care its beneficiaries were receiving.

Because of this, GAO made two recommendations. These include collecting information regarding the quality of telehealth that Medicaid beneficiaries receive and taking the steps needed to enhance care based on this information.

HHS had a neutral response to these suggestions, recognizing the existence of barriers in telehealth but claiming that changing measures is out of its control.

GAO analyzed this data because the CARES Act requires it to collect information regarding the federal response during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in this case, the use of Medicaid flexibilities.

GAO has previously engaged in various studies to reveal the status of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. In February 2020, GAO reported that 62 percent of states had incorrect asset information within their Medicaid eligibility determinations. This judgment occurred on behalf of several different factors, including unsatisfactory performance on income discrepancies and lack of timeliness.

In January 2019, GAO also conducted a study that attempted to discover benefits associated with bundled payments, both mandatory and voluntary. Through research on behalf of six bundled payment models run by CMS, GAO found that providers prefer those that are voluntary because they bring more favorable financial terms.

Finally, in April 2021, GAO evaluated a Health and Human Services Department security program, only to find that it carried inadequacy. Progress halted because no information security continuous monitoring occurred, which is an essential tool for supplying the agency with data regarding risk management decisions.