Telehealth Utilization Jumps 10.1% in Q1 as Mental Health Cements Its Hold on Virtual Care
FAIR Health's national tracker shows telehealth rebounding sharply from the late-2025 Medicare funding lapse — with mental health accounting for 52.1% of all telehealth claim lines, the top category in every age group.
US telehealth utilization climbed 10.1% between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker — a sharp rebound from the disruption caused by the late-2025 Medicare telehealth funding lapse.
Telehealth's share of medical claim lines rose from 5.01% to 5.51% nationally, and the share of patients with a telehealth claim grew from 17.3% to 18.4%. Growth was broad-based: claim lines rose 12% in the Midwest, 11.8% in the Northeast, 9% in the South, and 8.1% in the West. The data draws on FAIR Health's private insurance claims database of more than 75 contributors.
Behavioral health is the backbone
The tracker's most striking finding is how completely behavioral health now anchors virtual care. Mental health conditions were the top telehealth diagnostic category in every age group — 26.9% of claim lines even among children aged 0-9, and 22% among patients 65 and older.
The urban-rural divide persists: 18.6% of urban patients used telehealth versus 10.3% of rural patients. But rural growth is now outpacing urban (7.8% vs 6.2%) — a point regulators cite in access debates as Congress weighs whether to make Medicare telehealth flexibilities permanent before their December 31, 2027 expiration.
For operators, the data confirms what funding flows already suggested: virtual behavioral health is not a pandemic artifact. It is the durable core of telehealth demand.
Reporting: Fierce Healthcare, on FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, June 16, 2026.
Source
Original reporting: Fierce Healthcare / FAIR Health ↗