Abstract
The call for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased demand for
telehealth tools that facilitate remote care delivery. Estimates in this study show telehealth increasing
well over 3000 percent from February to March 2020. The objective of this brief is to understand the
impact of changes to telehealth policy that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future
decisions about telehealth policy after a vaccine is made widely available. This policy brief is divided into
two parts; first we outline the policy shifts that occurred at the federal level and at the state level in
Massachusetts to facilitate the ramp up of remote care delivery. Second, we present the findings from a
set of qualitative interviews with leadership in payer, provider, and advocacy organizations in
Massachusetts to understand the impact of the new policy landscape. At the federal level, Medicare declared that care delivered over telehealth platforms be reimbursed at
the same level as in-person visits (CARES Act, 2020). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
temporarily lifted requirements that providers be licensed in the state that they provide services
(Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Outbreak, 2020). The Office of Civil Rights temporarily expanded the list of telehealth technologies that
are considered HIPAA compliant (Rights (OCR), 2020). Many of these changes were reflected at the state
level. MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, declared that all telehealth services will be
reimbursed at the level of in-person services for the duration of the public health emergency (Tsai,
2020a). MassHealth also temporarily lifted originating site requirements, allowing patients to receive care
in their homes (Tsai, 2020a). Governor Charlie Baker subsequently released an executive order that
extended these changes to all payers (Order Expanding Access to Telehealth Services and to Protect
Health Care Providers, 2020).