To evaluate the relationship between telehealth use and health care costs among rural Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analyzed health care cost data for rural Medicare beneficiaries
Compared costs between telehealth and non-telehealth users
Assessed changes over the pandemic period
Telehealth users had higher total costs compared to 2019-2020
Rural telehealth users experienced greater declines in total costs than non-telehealth users
Urban beneficiaries did not show the same level of cost decline as rural telehealth users
Abstract
While telehealth users realized higher total costs of care in 2019-2020, rural telehealth users realized greater declines in total costs than rural non-telehealth users and urban beneficiaries.