The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) on Monday called the two-year extension of telehealth provisions in the recently passed omnibus bill a “vote of confidence” for virtual healthcare. “There is little doubt of the value of telehealth,” Kyle Zebley, ATA senior vice president of public policy said in a statement. “Our work will now renew in earnest to […]
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 […]
22 December 2022 Health Care Law Today Author(s): Nathaniel M. Lacktman Many of the telehealth flexibilities that became popular with both patients and clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire when the public health emergency (PHE) ends. After three years of operating under these waivers, an abrupt ending to them could cause significant disruption to telemedicine providers […]
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 […]
Assessing the ongoing evolution of telehealth policies and regulations, a recent report from the Commonwealth Fund described how rules vary between different US states, resulting from states’ unique experiences early in the pandemic. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, most in-person care services were restricted as lockdowns proliferated across the country. As a result, providers began […]
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 […]
Advocates for telehealth kept pressing Congress to ensure access for virtual care, and it appears lawmakers got the message. Lawmakers are working on final approval of the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill before the government is slated to shut down at the end of the week. Senate leaders included a provision to extend telehealth waivers […]
Potential pay cut relief that addresses some physician and therapist concerns is tucked into a 4,000-page proposed 2023 spending bill announced Monday by members of Congress. The draft bill would offset more than half of a key cut the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services planned to enact with the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule’s physician […]
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 […]
Dear CTeL Members, This morning, Congressional leadership released text of the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). This legislation includes more than $1.7 trillion in discretionary resources to fund various aspects of our federal government, including a 2-year extension of the telehealth waivers we have benefited from during the federal public health emergency. […]
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 […]