A UCLA-led study announced on May 13 found that the expansion of telemedicine during the COVID pandemic did not result in a significant increase in healthcare visits or spending among U.S. adults. Researchers analyzed multi-payer medical claims data from MedInsight’s database, covering more than 3 million adults enrolled in Medicare fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage, dual-eligible Medicaid, or commercial insurance between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2023.
The findings are important as lawmakers have debated whether the wider availability of telemedicine would either drive up costs or close gaps in access to care. The study suggests that neither outcome occurred on a national scale.
Study lead Dr. John N. Mafi, associate professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said: “Our findings suggest neither prediction came true on a national scale. As telemedicine use grew, visits and spending in heavy users tracked closely with patterns in lighter users. That is reassuring for anyone worried about ballooning costs, but more sobering for anyone hoping telemedicine would close longstanding gaps in access. At least so far, it looks more like a substitute for in-person care than a true expansion of it.”
Researchers reported that overall telemedicine visits fell by 2.4% and spending dropped by 0.5%, but these changes were not statistically significant over the period studied. Subgroup analysis also showed no significant differences; urban populations saw fewer visits and lower spending while rural areas had slight increases—none reaching statistical significance.
Senior author Dr. Katherine Kahn said: “Our analysis runs only through late 2023, when telemedicine use was still settling into a new equilibrium… Much more work is needed to understand telemedicine’s longer-term effects on quality of care, health outcomes and spending, and whether those effects differ across the diverse populations who depend on it. Policymakers should keep monitoring closely as the evidence base matures.”
The University of California Los Angeles has been associated with notable figures such as Nobel laureates and MacArthur Fellows; it fosters diverse perspectives through academic programs and operates within the University of California system according to its official website.
Arnold Ventures funded this study with additional support from the National Institutes of Health and a National Institute on Aging research Career Development award.
