{"id":284020,"date":"2025-11-10T21:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284020\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:52:11","slug":"shutdown-induced-lapse-in-telehealth-services-leaves-local-medicare-patients-with-fewer-options-for-care-forcing-some-to-skip-appointments-lost-coast-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284020\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutdown-Induced Lapse in Telehealth Services Leaves Local Medicare Patients With Fewer Options for Care, Forcing Some to Skip Appointments | Lost Coast Outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Medical professionals at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka worry that the lapse in telehealth services will force some Medicare patients to delay critical care. | File photo.<\/p>\n

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As the government shutdown stretches into its sixth week, millions of Medicare patients who rely on telehealth services to see their doctors are being forced to either pay out-of-pocket for virtual visits or forgo appointments entirely. While in-person appointments are still available, telehealth services provide a lifeline to elderly or disabled patients who have a difficult time traveling, especially those who live in rural or underserved areas like Humboldt County.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with the Outpost, Dr. John Aryanpur, a neurosurgeon at St. Joseph Hospital and Chief Medical Officer for NorCal Providence Medical Group & Clinical Network, estimated that telehealth visits accounted for \u201cbetween 10 and 18 percent\u201d of outpatient visits before the government shut down on Oct. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions, unfortunately, have impacted our patients in Humboldt and all across northern California,\u201d Dr. Aryanpur said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a number of folks who have canceled appointments or deferred care that we feel is time sensitive. Many of our clinicians are feeling very stressed because they have folks who they need to provide care to who are not coming in or who are deciding to defer care because of these actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medicare, which provides federal health insurance for people over 65, stopped paying for telehealth services and in-home hospital care programs when the government shut down on Oct. 1. A Senate vote on Sunday<\/a> cleared the way for a spending deal to end the shutdown this week. If the deal moves ahead, it is still unlikely that the government would reopen before Wednesday, according to The New York Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, even if the government reopens in the coming days, that doesn\u2019t mean telehealth services and in-home hospital care programs will automatically resume for Medicare patients. Those programs lapsed on Sept. 30, and to receive federal funding, Congress must approve the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act<\/a>, which would extend telehealth services through the end of 2030.<\/p>\n

Telehealth services were meant to be a temporary alternative to in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have increased in popularity over the years, especially among the elderly and people living in rural communities.<\/p>\n

A report<\/a> from the Brown University School of Public Health found California had the highest rate of telehealth usage, with 26 percent of Medicare beneficiaries using remote health care services at least one time during the first half of 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Humboldt County, we have a fair number of folks with chronic medical conditions who live in very inaccessible areas that are far from our cities, and the ability to provide them with medical care via telehealth has \u2014 in my opinion and in some cases \u2014 been life-saving,\u201d Dr. Aryanpur said. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to not have that ability since October 1. It seriously impacts folks across the spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. James Goldberg, St. Joseph and Redwood Memorial Hospital\u2019s Chief Medical Officer, added that telehealth services allow patients to seek care locally, rather than travelling out of the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the hospital side, it\u2019s actually been a way for us to bring specialty care to our inpatients so that we don\u2019t need to transfer them out of the area,\u201d Dr. Goldberg said. \u201cThey could stay in Humboldt in our hospitals with their families and not have to worry about the travel. \u2026 When you have a rural community like this, it can be difficult to recruit specialists, too. [Telehealth] really opens that door to allow [us] to provide that necessary specialist care.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some exceptions for rural residents. Guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)<\/a> notes that Medicare beneficiaries \u201cwill generally need to be in a medical facility and in a rural area to receive Medicare telehealth services.\u201d That means people who are seeking telehealth services still have to travel to a brick-and-mortar clinic to get remote health care services.<\/p>\n


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Approximately 20 percent of Open Door\u2019s patients use telehealth services. | File photo.<\/p>\n

Tory Starr, CEO of Open Door Community Health Centers, said Open Door\u2019s clinics have leaned on this exemption to provide Medicare patients with the care that they need. However, whether or not Open Door will be reimbursed by Medicare for its services remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a cautionary approach, we have been having folks come into the clinic and see some of our remote providers that way,\u201d Starr told the Outpost, noting that Open Door can provide transportation to its facilities for some patients. \u201cTherefore, they\u2019re considered inside the four walls of the health center, and that qualifies under Medicare. \u2026 If somebody really needs to communicate with their provider and they\u2019re not able to get in [to the clinic], we are still serving folks, and we will work through the reimbursement issues if they arise later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open Door has ingrained telehealth into its services since the pandemic, Starr said, noting that remote appointments account for about 20 percent of all visits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody literally can\u2019t get in, we will still do a telehealth visit with them, and we\u2019ll see what happens with our payment in the long run,\u201d Starr said. \u201cWe believe that we do qualify under the rural exemption, so we\u2019re being cautious, but if people really do need a virtual visit, we will do that. \u2026 We\u2019ve tried to make sure that people aren\u2019t being negatively impacted by this change \u2026 but it could definitely be negatively impacting Open Door\u2019s finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always put patient care first,\u201d he added. \u201cWe certainly have the ability [at] both the state and federal level to advocate for payment, even if it\u2019s retroactive. \u2026 It\u2019s just, instead of getting paid for a visit, we may not get paid for that visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Dr. Aryanpur said Providence will \u201cstill provide telehealth care to those who need it,\u201d and staff will \u201csort it out later.\u201d Still, some patients are choosing to put off appointments out of fear that they won\u2019t be reimbursed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, there are some Medicare patients who are uncomfortable with that, because, as it stands now, they might have to pay out of pocket,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, last week, I was made aware of a patient who needed to see a specialist for an urgent condition. The initial visit was telehealth in order to set up a surgery, but the patient decided to decline the telehealth visit and delay care until this issue is resolved. I\u2019m hoping that doesn\u2019t result in a poor outcome, but I\u2019m quite worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

Providence Humboldt County Communications Manager Shannon Garcia provided the following additional statement:<\/p>\n

Before the U.S. federal government shut down on October 1, Providence proactively prepared for immediate changes to our health care operations and reimbursement policies for certain services. While we expect essential programs like Medicare and Medicaid to continue to process payments in the immediate future, disruptions to federal oversight and the expiration of health waivers have impacted care delivery across the Providence family of organizations.<\/p>\n

Most notably, telehealth waivers first adopted during the pandemic expired without Congressional action, jeopardizing care for many Medicare patients who often relied on these virtual services for timely treatment. In response, Providence proactively prepared for telehealth services to return to pre-pandemic guidelines, which limited the type of telehealth services that qualify for reimbursement including restrictions for audio-only visits, types of service and sites of service. Due to this change, some Medicare patients are being asked to come in for appointments that were originally scheduled as telehealth to ensure their care is covered.
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In addition, the Acute Hospital at Home (HaH) waiver lapsed, requiring all patients who were receiving inpatient-level care at home to be transferred to a hospital or discharged to another appropriate setting. Like other health systems, Providence actively coordinated transitions for affected patients to minimize disruptions and ensure safe, high-quality care.
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Despite these challenges, Providence remains committed to reducing impacts to our patients and ensuring continuity of care for the communities we serve. We continue to advocate for the restoration of essential waivers that support flexible and accessible care delivery. Most importantly, Providence\u2019s hospitals, outpatient clinics and medical offices remain open and operational to provide high-quality, compassionate care to our communities, ensuring that every patient receives the essential care they need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Medical professionals at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka worry that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-284020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}