MM Curator summary
[MM Curator Summary]: A study of telehealth grants in CA during the pandemic shows a surge from 2% to 45% of all physician visits.
The article below has been highlighted and summarized by our research team. It is provided here for member convenience as part of our Curator service.
Not only has Medicaid ensured care access for enrollees during the pandemic, but its coverage of telehealth services has proved a boon to Medicaid providers in California.
Source: Getty Images
March 15, 2022 – Increased use of telehealth services by Medicaid beneficiaries in California is leading to positive financial outcomes for providers in the state.
Increased Telehealth Boosts Medicaid Provider Revenue in CA
Sixty percent of Medicaid providers in California said that telehealth provided financial stability for their organization, a new report shows.
The report was released by Health Net, a payer supporting members on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. In 2020, Health Net awarded 138 Medi-Cal providers about $13.4 million in grants to implement and expand telehealth services. The grant period was from May 2020 to April 2021, after which the grantees submitted information about how they used their funds. The new report is a summary of the reports submitted by 98 Medi-Cal providers.
Overall, telehealth use among Medi-Cal patients increased from 2 percent of all doctor visits prior to the pandemic to 45 percent at the end of 2020, representing a 20-fold increase.