Medicare phone consults with doctor

[Scott Donley]

For those on Medicare, as of March 1 all doctor consults by phone will be paid as a regular doctors visit. This is for the safety of older folks so we can still stay home in OUR safe place. Just a public notice.

[Stan Calow]

Thanks Scott. Can you provide a quick reference to this? I'd like to show several people who are having these.

[Dave Anderson NH]

The Veteran's Administration is doing a lot of telemedicine too. I had my CPAP 6 month consult via telemedicine yesterday and it was just fine. I think this will be the norm for the foreseeable future.

[Scott Donley]

Thanks Scott. Can you provide a quick reference to this? I'd like to show several people who are having these.I found out when I got a letter from my supplemental insurance but a quick search found this, https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/03/17/secretary-azar-announces-historic-expansion-of-telehealth-access-to-combat-covid-19.html
Medicare calls it Telehealth https://abcnews.go.com/Health/medicare-medicaid-patients-temporary-access-telemedicine-amid-coronavirus/story?id=69895621

[Roger Feeley]

It's about time. I'm pretty good at describing my symptoms and do so in as much detail as I can when phoning into the nurses line for an appointment. My Dr has always been good about giving me a wait and see if that's indicated or telling me to come in. Now he can bill for his time when he does the 'wait and see'.

[Brian Elfert]

I wish I could do my sleep doctor visits via telemedicine. My sleep doctor is a four plus hour round trip away. He never physically examines me. He told me last year he would probably be able to do telemedicine maybe in 2021.