Medicare Beneficiaries’ Use of Telehealth in 2020: Trends by Beneficiary Characteristics and Location

This research report examines changes in Medicare fee-for-service Part B visits and use of telehealth in 2020 during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) by beneficiary characteristics, provider specialty, and location. The analysis found that Medicare in-person visits dropped while telehealth visits increased significantly at the start of the pandemic. Subsequently, telehealth visits declined before plateauing by the end of 2020.  Visits to behavioral health specialists showed the largest increase in telehealth. Most telehealth visits were from the beneficiary's home. Disparities in telehealth were found by race/ethnicity, rural location, and geographic region.

The share of Medicare visits conducted through telehealth in 2020 increased 63-fold, from approximately 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million. States with the highest use of telehealth in 2020 included Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. States with the lowest use of telehealth in 2020 included Tennessee, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming. The report also found insightful trends on the kinds of services Medicare beneficiaries sought through telehealth.  While overall health care visits for Medicare beneficiaries declined in 2020 as compared to 2019, telehealth was particularly helpful in offsetting potential foregone behavioral health care. In 2020, telehealth visits comprised a third of total visits to behavioral health specialists, compared to 8 percent of visits to primary care providers and 3 percent of visits to other specialists.