Medicare Telehealth Coverage During COVID-19 Pandemic
Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2020/03/22 - Updated: 2026/01/27
Publication Type: Informative
Category Topic: Telemedicine - Related Publications
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This information provides guidance on Medicare's temporary expansion of telehealth services implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The resource outlines how Medicare beneficiaries gained access to remote healthcare through virtual check-ins, mental health counseling, evaluation and management visits, and preventive screenings without visiting medical facilities in person. This content proves particularly valuable for older adults, people with disabilities, and those with mobility challenges who face heightened risks from in-person healthcare visits. The information details payment structures, consent requirements, and the broader range of communication tools - including smartphones - now accepted for remote consultations with doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers - Disabled World (DW).
Introduction
Medicare has temporarily expanded its coverage of telehealth services to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic health emergency. These services expand the current telehealth covered services, to help you have access from more places (including your home), with a wider range of communication tools, including smartphones, to interact with a range of providers such as doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers.
During this time, you will be able to receive a specific set of services through telehealth including evaluation and management visits - common office visits - mental health counseling and preventive health screenings. This will help ensure you are able to visit with your doctor from your home, without having to go to a doctor's office or hospital, which puts you and others at risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Main Content
You may be able to communicate with your doctors or certain other practitioners without necessarily going to the doctor's office in person for a full visit. Medicare pays for "virtual check-ins" - brief, virtual services with your established physician or certain practitioners where the communication isn't related to a medical visit within the previous 7 days - and doesn't lead to a medical visit within the next 24 hours (or soonest appointment available).
You need to consent verbally to using virtual check-ins and your doctor must document that consent in your medical record before you use this service. You pay your usual Medicare coinsurance and deductible for these services.
Medicare also pays for you to communicate with your doctors using online patient portals without going to the doctor's office. Like the virtual check-ins, you must initiate these individual communications.
If you live in a rural area, you may use communication technology to have full visits with your doctors.
The law requires that these visits take place at specified sites of service, known as telehealth originating sites, and get services using a real-time audio and video communication system at the site to communicate with a remotely located doctor or certain other types of practitioners.
Medicare pays for many medical visits through this telehealth benefit.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The pandemic-era expansion of Medicare telehealth services marked a turning point in accessible healthcare delivery, demonstrating that remote medical consultations can effectively serve populations who previously faced significant barriers to care. While initially implemented as an emergency measure, these telehealth provisions revealed how technology can reduce transportation burdens, minimize infection risks, and maintain continuity of care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions or limited mobility. As healthcare systems continue evolving beyond the pandemic, the lessons learned from this expansion highlight the ongoing need for flexible, accessible telemedicine options that accommodate diverse patient needs and circumstances - Disabled World (DW).
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.