Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare
Today (Friday, February 3, 2023), the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) launched a new virtual home for telehealth content on Medicaid.gov. The redesigned pages make it easier for users to find information about how telehealth can be utilized under Medicaid. Visitors will find resources for states and territories as they consider telehealth for the delivery of Medicaid-covered services.
For most Medicaid benefits, federal Medicaid law and regulations do not specifically address telehealth delivery methods or the criteria for implementation of telehealth. As a result, states have broad flexibility in designing the parameters of telehealth delivery methods to furnish services. However, underlying services must continue to meet the requirements of the overarching provisions in Title XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act), regulations, the federal policy framework of the covered Medicaid benefit, and the parameters of the state’s CMS-approved Medicaid state plan or a subsequent state plan amendment (SPA). Where Medicaid law or regulations set forth telehealth delivery requirements for specific benefits, those requirements must be observed. For example, the Community First Choice (CFC) Option at 1915(k) has general requirements for using telehealth for performing the assessment of need (§441.535) but does not have requirements for other CFC activities that could be performed using telehealth.
There are numerous resources on this landing page, including:
- State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit
- Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit Checklist for States
- Supplement #1 to the State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit
- CMCS Informational Bulletin: Rural Health Care and Medicaid Telehealth Flexibilities, and Guidance Regarding Section 1009 of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act
- Report to Congress: Reducing Barriers to Using Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring for Pediatric Populations under Medicaid
- Reimbursement for Medicaid for Services Delivered Via Telehealth
(CMS) encourages you to visit the new Medicaid.gov telehealth pages to learn more about how telehealth can be utilized for Medicaid providers and patients.
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