{"id":26034,"date":"2019-11-08T07:26:54","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T07:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=26034"},"modified":"2019-11-08T07:26:54","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T07:26:54","slug":"legislation-re-introduced-to-expand-access-to-telehealth-under-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/legislation-re-introduced-to-expand-access-to-telehealth-under-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation Re-Introduced to Expand Access to Telehealth Under Medicare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation on October 30th<\/sup> designed to expand Medicare beneficiaries\u2019 access to telehealth services. The bill<\/a> is called the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act of 2019 (hereinafter, the \u201cCONNECT Act\u201d or the \u201cAct\u201d). In order to understand what the Act seeks to accomplish, it is important to have a working understanding of Medicare\u2019s current policies governing telehealth. A brief overview is provided below followed by a section by section summary of the Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. Understanding Original Medicare\u2019s Current Coverage of Telehealth Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a. Covered Telehealth Services under Medicare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, original Medicare\u2019s coverage of telehealth services, which is set out in Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act, includes office visits, psychotherapy, consultations, and certain other medical or health services that are provided by an eligible provider who is not physically located at the Medicare beneficiary\u2019s location using an interactive 2-way telecommunications system (e.g., real-time audio and video).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specific telehealth-delivered services eligible for reimbursement under Medicare are identified by Current Procedural Terminology (\u201cCPT\u201d) or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (\u201cHCPCS\u201d) codes. Each year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (\u201cHHS\u201d) considers submissions for new telehealth-delivered services to be approved. Submissions are allowed from providers, advocacy organizations, and other interested parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CMS decides to approve a submitted CPT code for reimbursement based on whether the service meets the requirements in one of two categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n