A bipartisan group of legislators introduced two pieces of legislation in May to expand access to telehealth services under Medicare. The Representatives were Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
The Medicare Telehealth Parity Act would:
- Remove the geographic barriers under current law and allow for the provision of telehealth services in rural, underserved, and metropolitan areas.
- Expand the list of providers eligible to provide telehealth services to include respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, and audiologists.
- Expand access to telestroke services, regardless of where the patient is located.
- Allow remote patient monitoring for patients with chronic conditions such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes.
- Allow the beneficiary’s home to serve as a site of care for home dialysis, hospice care, eligible outpatient mental health services, and home health services.
The CONNECT for Health Act of 2017 would:
- Expand originating sites for telehealth care.
- Create a Medicare Remote Patient Monitoring benefit for certain high-risk, high-cost patients.
- Lift restriction on the use of telehealth in accountable care organizations and Medicare Advantage.
- Urge the Secretary of Health and Human Services to evaluate the applicability of telehealth in projects before the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).
- Authorize a study on the use of telehealth services once restrictions have been lifted.
Thompson, Harper, Black, and Welch also announced the formation of a bipartisan Congressional Telehealth Caucus, whose purpose will be to discuss how best to improve remote care to Americans who need it most, according to Thompson.