Friday, January 6, 2023 Introduction On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (the “Act”). The Act provides for nearly $1.7 trillion in funding across a range of domestic initiatives, including certain appropriations to healthcare and related programs. In addition to funding, the Act modifies certain telehealth provisions, expands and extends components […]
By Mike Miliard December 22, 2022 The American Telemedicine Association this week cheered the bipartisan omnibus appropriations bill from both houses of Congress for including a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth flexibilities that have been in place since the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared in 2020. WHY IT MATTERSThe telehealth group’s ATA Action affiliate […]
December 22, 2022 Expanded telehealth access extended for two years. The ‘omnibus’ fiscal 2023 spending bill before Congress Thursday contains extensions for four areas of improved national telehealth access developed during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) starting in January 2020. Because they apply to Medicare and high-deductible health plans (HDHP), they become guidelines for commercial […]
Congress is expected to pass an omnibus spending bill this week that would extend pandemic-era Medicare telehealth waivers until the end of 2024. The bill would also keep in place the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) innovative Hospital at Home program, and continue several other programs aimed at boosting connected health access and coverage. Among several organizations […]
The 2023 final rule didn’t give rehab therapists much in the way of clarity when it comes to the long-term future of telehealth as a reimbursable service. But, it did present a path forward—if therapists are willing to take it. Here’s where rehab therapy telehealth stands in 2023, and how it can become a permanent addition in […]
A major end-of-the-year spending package released early Monday only gave partial relief to physicians seeking to get rid of a 4.5% pay cut set to go into effect next year, amid other major health policy reforms. Congress is expected to pass the $1.7 trillion package by Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Here is a […]
The proposed $1.66 trillion omnibus government funding bill – which is expected to pass through the U.S. House and Senate this week – includes multiple home-based care provisions of importance. Among those is new home health payment transparency language, an extension of the rural add-on, a separate extension of the Money Follows the Person program […]
Lawmakers rolled out a roughly $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill Dec. 20 to fund the U.S. government through most of 2023, tacking on proposals to extend telehealth and hospital-at-home flexibilities while leaving out other healthcare asks. Lawmakers have until the end of Dec. 23 to clear the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill or federal funds are […]
The omnibus spending bill currently set before Congress includes provisions that would extend the waiver for recertification using telehealth through the end of 2024, among other items pertaining to hospice. Legislators have released the text of the more than 6,000-page bill that is intended to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2023. Congress is working to […]
A fourth year into the pandemic, its effects have hospices continuing to combat against financial and operational headwinds, as well as uncertainty about the future of telehealth rules. The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is likely to endure past another extension. Currently set to expire Jan. 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health & Human […]
CONTENTS How will this Toolkit help me? This Toolkit will help you: Telehealth Integration and Optimization Toolkit Improve patient care through virtual health care delivery. Get the Toolkit (PDF) Introduction Before the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population, geographic and sociodemographic disparities in access to care, and health care professional workforce shortages drove the desire for virtual […]
Two House members said that congress is trying to expand Medicare’s virtual flexibilities beyond the public health emergency, NextGov reported Dec. 14. “Unfortunately, it took a global pandemic for us to realize the larger benefits of telehealth and really introduce telehealth into traditional Medicare,” said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member. Lawmakers […]
After the COVID-19 pandemic changed telehealth, expanding access to the digital health care under temporary emergency policies, two House members said that congressional efforts are trying to expand Medicare’s virtual flexibilities beyond temporary pandemic efforts at an Axios event on Wednesday. According to CDC data from October, approximately 37% of adults in the U.S. used telemedicine in […]
When the current public health emergency ends, so do many of the waivers put in place to help providers through the pandemic. Telehealth is the big exception, getting an additional 151 days before a loss of flexibilities such as the ability for patients to get virtual care from their home. Congressional action is needed, and lawmakers are […]
On November 2, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (Final Rule), which will take effect January 1, 2023. The Final Rule includes noteworthy updates regarding billing and reimbursement for services provided via telehealth, providing practitioners with some guidance on navigating the transition away from […]