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The Silent Crisis: When Telemedicine Disappears
In this episode of Unmasked, host Melody Mejeh, Founder & CEO of KindPath Health, takes a hard look at an underreported crisis: Medicare’s potential decision to roll back telehealth coverage starting October 1, 2025.
Right now, Medicare allows patients to access telehealth from their own homes. But as Medicare.gov explains: “Through September 30, 2025, you can get telehealth services at any location in the U.S., including your home. Starting October 1, 2025, you must be in an office or medical facility located in a rural area … for most telehealth services.”
What does this mean? Millions of older adults, disabled patients, neurodivergent people, and marginalized communities will lose direct access to care. And crisis care systems — already strained — will face another tidal wave.
Melody also highlights how much of telehealth is mental health care. According to the University of Michigan Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center, about 43% of mental health visits at community health centers were delivered virtually in 2021, with psychiatrists doing more than 60% online. Removing home-based access threatens to dismantle one of the most relied-on parts of our care system.
🔑 Key Takeaways
* Medicare home-based telehealth coverage expires September 30, 2025.
* Nearly half of all Medicare mental health visits are now delivered virtually.
* Older adults, rural residents, disabled and neurodivergent patients, and marginalized communities are hit hardest.
* Without telehealth, ERs and crisis lines will face surges.
* Healthcare access is not just medicine — it’s policy.
📚 Sources
* Medicare.gov — Telehealth Coverage
* Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (University of Michigan, 2022) — Use of Telehealth in Community Health Centers: Impact on Behavioral Health Services
If this episode resonates, share it, call your representatives, and make sure this policy doesn’t quietly strip away one of the most important healthcare lifelines of our time.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melodymejeh.substack.com
View all episodes
By Melody MejehIn this episode of Unmasked, host Melody Mejeh, Founder & CEO of KindPath Health, takes a hard look at an underreported crisis: Medicare’s potential decision to roll back telehealth coverage starting October 1, 2025.
Right now, Medicare allows patients to access telehealth from their own homes. But as Medicare.gov explains: “Through September 30, 2025, you can get telehealth services at any location in the U.S., including your home. Starting October 1, 2025, you must be in an office or medical facility located in a rural area … for most telehealth services.”
What does this mean? Millions of older adults, disabled patients, neurodivergent people, and marginalized communities will lose direct access to care. And crisis care systems — already strained — will face another tidal wave.
Melody also highlights how much of telehealth is mental health care. According to the University of Michigan Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center, about 43% of mental health visits at community health centers were delivered virtually in 2021, with psychiatrists doing more than 60% online. Removing home-based access threatens to dismantle one of the most relied-on parts of our care system.
🔑 Key Takeaways
* Medicare home-based telehealth coverage expires September 30, 2025.
* Nearly half of all Medicare mental health visits are now delivered virtually.
* Older adults, rural residents, disabled and neurodivergent patients, and marginalized communities are hit hardest.
* Without telehealth, ERs and crisis lines will face surges.
* Healthcare access is not just medicine — it’s policy.
📚 Sources
* Medicare.gov — Telehealth Coverage
* Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (University of Michigan, 2022) — Use of Telehealth in Community Health Centers: Impact on Behavioral Health Services
If this episode resonates, share it, call your representatives, and make sure this policy doesn’t quietly strip away one of the most important healthcare lifelines of our time.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melodymejeh.substack.com