Report: Medicare Reimbursed Nearly $14M for Telemedicine Last Year
In 2014, Medicare telemedicine reimbursement totaled $13.9 million, a number that has steadily increased since 2008, according to the Robert J. Waters Center for Telehealth and eHealth Law (CTeL).
CTeL says it obtained information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which revealed that the $13.9 million figure reflects payments of $12,482,270 for provider fees at the distant site (the location of the telemedicine provider) and $1,452,160 for originating site fees (the location of the patient).
Since 2001, CMS’s Medicare reimbursement for distant site services totals $51 million and $6.5 million for originating site fees, for a total of $57.6 million over fourteen years, according to CTeL. In 2001, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost CMS $150 million during the first five year to reimburse for telehealth encounters.
Recently, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) analyzed how all 50 states grade out on telemedicine policy, finding a supportive landscape for physician practice standards and licensure in slightly less than half of them.
