Insider Intelligence June 6, 2022
The news: Therapists who are treating families, Medicaid beneficiaries, or patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to continue offering teletherapy post-pandemic, according to a new study published in JMIR.
- Conversely, therapists treating a higher percentage of older clients, Medicare patients, or patients from rural areas were more likely to continue using teletherapy post-pandemic.
- Researchers surveyed 114 US therapists from 27 states between January and April 2021.
Key drivers: Medicare is a more lucrative business model for clinicians than Medicaid.
- Medicaid reimburses providers at much lower rates than commercial insurers or Medicare Advantage. This makes it difficult for care providers that accept Medicaid to generate high revenues.
- It’s also more difficult to maintain a long-standing...