Tele-Behavioral Health Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries During COVID-19

This issue brief summarizes analyses of Medicare fee-for-service data examining beneficiary use of tele-behavioral health services during 2019 and 2020. Results demonstrate that the number of Medicare beneficiaries receiving behavioral health care via telehealth increased dramatically during the COVID-19 public health emergency. However, the overall percentage of beneficiaries receiving behavioral health care services in any setting was lower in 2020 than in 2019 despite known increases in persons experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression, and increases in substance use during this time.