President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a potentially long-term extension of reimbursements for telehealth services that have exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic and once again claimed to be putting the finishing touches on a “tremendous health care plan.” President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference Monday at the White House after announcing […]
Various reports indicate that physician adoption of telemedicine has boomed over the course of just the past few months, with virtual healthcare interactions set to surpass 1 billion by the end of the year. Similarly, in 2019 just 8% of patients surveyed had sought care via telemedicine, but as of April 2020, that number had […]
For the past few months, policymakers from the states to Congress have discussed plans to keep some of the loosened telehealth regulations after the pandemic. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive ordersteering agencies to do that work and improve access to healthcare in rural communities. The order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Alex […]
Among a swath of proposed policy and payment changes announced this week by the Trump administration, CMS continued its effort to simplify coding requirements, quality measurements, and focus on 340B drug costs. In addition, it wants Medicare beneficiaries to be eligible to have more surgeries performed in hospital outpatient surgery centers, and it expanded the […]
On August, 3 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that announces and solicits public comments on proposed policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), and other Medicare Part B issues, on or after Jan. 1. The CY 2021 PFS proposed rule is one of […]
Doctors treating patients virtually can provide new services, such as emergency visits, eye exams, and certain mental health visits, after the pandemic subsides under an executive order from President Donald Trump announced yesterday. As part of the order, the Agriculture Department and Federal Communications Commission are partnering to bolster broadband access to rural communities, boosting telehealth efforts […]
Dive Brief: President Donald Trump late Monday signed an executive order directing the administration to permanently extend Medicare’s broader telehealth coverage after the public health emergency, and CMS followed by proposing a rule that does so — albeit on a piecemeal, service-by-service basis. The proposed changes, in its 2021 physician fee schedule released Monday night, would allow Medicare providers […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a new rule that would make certain COVID-19-related telehealth flexibilities introduced over the past few months permanent for Medicare beneficiaries. The move comes in conjunction with an executive order from President Trump to improve rural and telehealth access. While CMS’s proposed rule potentially paves the way for more remote nursing […]
On August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the advance copy of its proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule rule, which contains new telehealth services covered under Medicare. Compared to last year, where CMS made only minor additions to telehealth services, the changes proposed for 2021 are bold and designed to more deliberately expand […]
As part of ACOG’s ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure expanded access to telehealth services, we endorsed the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2020 H.R. (7663). This bill, endorsed by the House Telehealth Caucus with bipartisan support, would remove outdated Medicare restrictions on telehealth, and expand coverage after the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends. This ensures obstetrician-gynecologists […]
On August 4, CMS posted a proposed rule on CY 2021 Payment Policies, which included important updates about the expansion of Medicare covered telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows on the heels of Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar’s renewal of the federal public health emergency (“PHE”) on July 23. […]
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic since mid-March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) worked quickly to issue emergency guidance that allowed temporary expansion of payment for telehealth services and provided certain flexibility in providing telehealth services. The COVID pandemic has significantly increased awareness of the benefits of telehealth, as many patients have […]
A new executive order from the White House is pushing to expand telehealth coverage and infrastructure, as well as make health care in rural communities more accessible beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services vastly expanded its Medicare coverage for telehealth visits as part of the White House’s March 13 COVID-19 national […]
Federal efforts to expand Medicare’s telehealth coverage during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic “played a critical role in helping to maintain access to primary care services,” says a new report from the Health and Human Services Department. The issue brief, released on Tuesday by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and […]
It’s hard to find a silver lining in a pandemic. But one of the few may be the rapid rise of telemedicine. With people stuck at home, doctors retooled their practices to see patients via videoconference. Insurance companies and regulators expanded the number of services available via telemedicine—and made reimbursement for telehealth consultations on par […]