Internet Telemedicine is Forever Changing Traditional Medicine in the United States

Abstract

In March 2020, President Trump empowered the CMS to issue waivers to Medicare program requirements to support healthcare providers and patients during the pandemic. The expansion of Medicare telehealth allowing all beneficiaries to receive telehealth in any location, including their homes, was the first action taken by the CMS. Soon afterwards, Senator Ted Cruz introduced in Congress a new bill called the “Equal Access to Care Act,” which will open doors to interstate telemedicine. The CMS reported that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of telehealth visits conducted by medical providers was 13,000. Thanks to the regulatory barriers removed by the Trump Administration in relation to telemedicine, in the last week of April 2020, over 1.7 million beneficiaries received telemedicine services.