President Trump announced Tuesday that telehealth services will be covered under Medicare so patients can access treatment while in self-isolation.

"Medicare patients can now visit any doctor by phone or video conference at no additional cost, including with commonly used services like FaceTime and Skype," Trump said during Tuesday's White House coronavirus press briefing.

Trump is invoking Medicare 1135 waivers, which will give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the authority to waive certain Medicare requirements so that care can be provided outside of traditional in-person doctor visits and to eliminate telehealth payment constraints in Medicare.

He also said that penalties for violating patient privacy under HIPAA law will not be enforced to allow doctors greater flexibility to use telehealth services. Fines to providers who violate the law can be steep. The Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights can impose fines as high as $50,000 depending on the type of violation.

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"It's been a very successful method of communication but never used on a scale like we're going to use the telehealth," Trump said.

Expanding access to physicians from home follows the White House coronavirus task force's advice that people stay indoors as much as possible. Trump encouraged people to take advantage of telehealth services if possible to maintain space for new patients in emergency departments, the first stop for many people who start exhibiting coronavirus symptoms.

"By doing this, the patient is not seeing the doctor per se, but they're seeing the doctor so there's no getting close," Trump said.

More and more people are choosing to self-isolate as the coronavirus outbreak continues, having already infected over 5,200 people in the United States and killed at least 92 people.