U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Telehealth Flexibilities Continue After End of COVID-19 Emergency
Tuesday, June 6, 2023 Telehealth experienced massive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, due in no small part to various regulatory and reimbursement policies that federal agencies implemented following a declaration by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in early 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic was a public health emergency (PHE). Although the […]
Telehealth Monitoring, Research and Evaluation: Issues for State Medicaid Agencies to Consider
The use of telehealth increased exponentially in 2020 and 2021 as health care providers and patients responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that the use of telehealth services by Medicaid enrollees increased 15-fold from March 2020 to February 2022.1 This increasing utilization was spurred in part by Medicaid agencies adjusting policies […]
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is over. Now what?
The COVID-19 public health emergency declared by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expired earlier this month. But that doesn’t mean the deadly respiratory illness has disappeared, warned Deb Houry, MD, MPH, chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). COVID-19 and […]
HHS Announces Continuing Telehealth Flexibilities Following the End of the COVID-19 PHE
On May 10, 2023, HHS announced that many telehealth and teleprescribing flexibilities will remain in place after the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. Congress extended many telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program through December 31, 2024, via the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and […]
Congress Urged to Make Telehealth Access Permanent
Telehealth Access for America wrote a letter urging Congress to recognize the value of virtual care and the need to protect it. Telehealth Access for America (TAFA), an American Hospital Association-created campaign to protect patient access to critical telehealth services, urged Congress to make permanent certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities granted during the COVID-19 public health […]
What Medicare beneficiaries need to know about the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency rules
The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11 has created dizzying changes for Medicare beneficiaries. Whether Medicare will or won’t cover certain health care costs may now depend on whether you are in Traditional Medicare or a private insurer’s Medicare Advantage plan, want remote monitoring for a chronic condition, and need rehab […]
As COVID-19 public health emergency ends, HHS outlines what changes, what remains in health care
The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends today, creating a shift in how physicians, patients, and policy makers deal with the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has differentiated between rules and practices that will change and some that will remain in place in the post-pandemic world. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra claimed credit […]
What’s New in Telehealth Reimbursements for 2023?
The big question for healthcare organizations that have expanded their telehealth services since the beginning of the pandemic has been what will happen when the public health emergency ends. This uncertainty is what’s known as the “telehealth cliff.” By authority granted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provided flexibility for […]
HHS: How the End of the PHE Will Impact Telehealth Flexibilities
May 11, 2023 – Today marks the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), bringing changes to telehealth flexibilities enacted amid the pandemic. On May 11, the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) released a factsheet detailing telehealth-related regulations that will and will not change. For instance, Congress has extended certain telehealth flexibilities within the Medicare program […]
HHS Fact Sheet: Telehealth Flexibilities and Resources and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) continues the process of transitioning away from the policies enabled by the COVID-19 emergency declarations, the Department would like to provide clarity regarding the future of federal flexibilities related to telehealth and tele prescribing to ensure that patients may continue to access and […]
Fact Sheet: End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Since HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s February 9, 2023, letter […]
HHS-OIG Releases Toolkit for Assessing Telehealth Billing Risks
May 02, 2023 – A newly released federal toolkit aims to help healthcare stakeholders analyze their telehealth claims data to assess program integrity risks. Released last week by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the toolkit is based on the methodology developed for a report published last September that assessed providers who […]
Two Weeks’ Notice for the Public Health Emergency: What’s Next for Telehealth
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced its plan to end the Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency declarations, legislation, and regulatory waivers across government agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), allowed for flexibility in the delivery of […]