The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Quality Payment Program (QPP) proposed rule on July 13. This rule includes updates to payment rates for physicians and other health care professionals, expands the use of telehealth, clarifies evaluation and management (E/M) policies, proposes policies for the 2022 […]
The home health industry reached a major legislative milestone on Thursday, with U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) teaming up to introduce a new bill to support in-home care alternatives to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Endorsed by the AARP and supported by a long list of home-based care advocates, the Choose Home […]
The American Telemedicine Association and Alliance for Connected Care are among a group of 430 organizations urging Congress to expand virtual care coverage before the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. The organizations sent a letter July 26 to lawmakers asking to approve permanent telehealth provisions for Medicare beneficiaries, including removing geographical barriers for telehealth usage […]
On July 13, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) unveiled a proposal to temporarily extend Medicare coverage for particular telehealth services granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency (the “Pandemic”), in order to evaluate which services should be covered permanently. Through the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (“PFS”), CMS is allowing certain services to remain […]
The Choose Home Care Act of 2021 would expand Medicare coverage for seniors who choose to go home after a hospital stay rather than to a skilled nursing facility. It would also open the door to remote patient monitoring, telehealth and other services. By Eric Wicklund July 30, 2021 – Home healthcare providers are divided over a bill […]
Senator John Kennedy is hoping that four telehealth bills packaged together can push Congress to take action on long-term connected health policy. By Eric Wicklund June 21, 2021 – With Congress facing dozens of bills aimed at improving telehealth coverage beyond the pandemic, one Senator is pressing the issue by combining four bills into one piece of legislation. […]
The Big Picture This month, a majority of states are beginning to adjourn their 2021 legislative sessions. Across the country, lawmakers considered and passed a wide range of health care legislation, including coverage expansions as well as strategies to contain prescription drug costs, address health care affordability, advance and expand telehealth, and ensure behavioral health care […]
While more than one in four (27 percent) of Medicare beneficiaries had a telehealth visit between the summer and fall of 2020, participants ranged by factors including age and race, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report. Here is a breakdown of the beneficiaries who used telehealth last summer and fall, based on age, race/ethnicity, […]
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators have reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021. If enacted the bill would expand Medicare coverage of telehealth service and make permanent flexibilities for virtual services implemented on a temporary basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary sponsors include Sens […]
Video conferences have long outlived their charm, but one pandemic staple remains popular: the virtual doctor’s visit. Now politicians around the country are racing against deadlines to make sure their constituents aren’t forced back to in-person medicine if they don’t want it. For months, Jim Des Marais, who has ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, has been […]
The legislation, sponsored by 50 senators, would permanently remove geographic restrictions on telehealth sites and expand originating sites, among other provisions. By Kat Jercich April 30, 2021 09:06 AM A bipartisan group comprising half of U.S. senators has reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021. […]
The eHealth Initiative and several high-profile organizations are once again asking Congressional leadership to enact long-term telehealth policy to preserve some access and coverage rules that have been enacted during the pandemic. By Eric Wicklund July 21, 2021 – Telehealth advocates have launched another effort to prompt Congress to establish a post-pandemic connected health policy. The eHealth Initiative is […]
