“If we are going to be relevant to the customers who will age into Medicare one day, we need to be offering these kinds of alternatives.”

That alternative is telehealth services and the statement came from a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission at the agency’s recent meeting in Washington D.C. At that meeting, several MedPAC members agreed, suggesting that telehealth should be used more widely in the Medicare program than it currently is. Today, they noted, it is used primarily in the fee-for-service program and mostly to serve patients who live in rural areas.

Learn more about why MedPAC members envision a future in which telehealth services are a more prominent component of the Medicare program in this CQ HealthBeat article presented by the Commonwealth Fund.