Pandemic-era legislation that allowed Medicare beneficiaries to access telehealth services regardless of where they live, and from their homes, and expanded the types of health care providers eligible to provide such services will expire on Dec. 31 unless a bicameral group of 100 lawmakers, led by U.S. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., succeeds in getting an extension included in a year-end appropriations package.

What You Need To Know

  • The lawmakers noted that Congress already recognized the “critical role” telehealth plays in health care delivery when it previously included provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act in COVID-19 relief legislation enacted during the pandemic
  • The current two-year extension of Medicare telehealth coverage was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 
  • House committees recently voted to advance an addition two-year extension
  • The lawmakers are also seeking to have the current six-month, in-person visit requirement for tele-mental health services permanently repealed

 

“Telehealth provides essential access to care and improves outcomes, including reduced emergency department utilization and improved medication adherence,” the lawmakers stated in a letter to the leadership of both chambers. “Medicare beneficiaries have come to rely on expanded access to telehealth services and are satisfied with the care they receive.

The lawmakers noted that Congress already recognized the “critical role” telehealth plays in health care delivery when it previously included provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act in COVID-19 relief legislation enacted during the pandemic.

The also cited the current two-year extension of Medicare telehealth coverage that was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and noted that relevant House committees recently voted to advance an addition two-year extension. 

“We ask you to prioritize provisions that remove geographic restrictions on telehealth services and permit the home and other clinically appropriate settings as originating sites,” they wrote. "Congress should also expand the authority for practitioners eligible to furnish telehealth services. Rural and underserved communities rely on telehealth services, and Congress should recognize federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics as telehealth distant site providers.”

The lawmakers further urged that telehealth be allowed for the use in the recertification of hospice care and that the six-month, in-person visit requirement for tele-mental health services be permanently repealed.

“While there is overwhelming support for Congress to enact permanent telehealth legislation, we must provide patients and clinicians with long-term certainty to support continued investment in technology and clinical models to meet the evolving health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries,” they wrote.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.