Medicare Telemedicine Spending Rises 28% Between 2015 & 2016, But Is Still Less Than 1% Of Benefit Spending

Medicare spending for telehealth in 2016 was $29 million, about 28% higher than telehealth spending in 2015, at $23 million. However, in both years, spending on telehealth represented less than one percent of total Medicare spending on benefits. Between 2015 and 2016, total Medicare benefits spending increased by 9.6%, from $614 billion in 2015 to $673 billion in 2016. Telehealth services are defined as health care services delivered through via online, video, and telephone communication.

In 2015, Medicare paid $22,449,968 for telehealth services, spread across a total of 372,518 claims.  In 2016,  Medicare paid a total . . .