{"id":28721,"date":"2020-09-04T17:35:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T17:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=28721"},"modified":"2020-09-04T17:35:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T17:35:05","slug":"telehealth-changes-by-trump-administration-a-first-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/telehealth-changes-by-trump-administration-a-first-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Telehealth Changes by Trump Administration a First Step"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2014 Any meaningful reform will require action from congress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the Trump administration has asserted that an executive order<\/a> and a proposed rule<\/a> issued this week will expand access to telemedicine for all Americans, outside experts say such promises won’t be realized anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The executive branch lacks the needed authority on its own, they told MedPage Today<\/em>, and the broad expansions sought by the White House could threaten patient privacy and even exacerbate health disparities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the president’s national emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration has dramatically broadened the number of services that are allowed to be delivered via telehealth, the types of individuals able to receive those services, and the ways in which they’re delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to extending telehealth services, the president’s executive order also calls for HHS to review the temporary flexibilities related to “reporting, staffing, and supervision flexibilities offered to Medicare providers in rural areas” and propose a rule within 60 days to extend them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the risk of infection among those seeking in-person services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has allowed payment for 135 services to be provided through telemedicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the emergency declaration comes with an expiration date and cannot be renewed indefinitely. In response to the president’s order, CMS is now proposing to making roughly seven of those service types permanent even after the pandemic ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Specifically, we’re proposing to permanently add some services to the Medicare telehealth list, including prolonged office visits; mental health services, such as group psychotherapy; neuro-behavioral exams; and other types of visits,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma explained in a call with reporters earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that the administration had also proposed making telehealth for home health services “permanently available.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump also ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to improve healthcare access, both with and without telehealth, in rural areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n