The $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law by President Trump Dec. 27 offers Medicare coverage for telemental health and rural hospitals and funding for broadband connectivity, but criticism of the bill remains. The reason: the bill doesn’t extend the emergency telehealth access and the coverage provisions offered early on during the pandemic. Lobbying to make at […]
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau announced Wednesday that it is requesting public comment for Round 2 distribution of an additional $249.95 million for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program; the Round 2 funding comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The FCC started the program in March 2020 with $200 million of CARES Act funding in order […]
The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shifted our ideas about what is possible at home. Many people continue to work from home, others switched to virtual school, and the video chats with friends and family that became common last March remain a regular part of life. The way we think about the delivery of health care has […]
The FCC is seeking advice on how to distribute the second round of its COVID-19 telehealth program, which recently received an additional $249.95 million in funds. The additional funding was finalized Dec. 27 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The money will support the COVID-19 telehealth program, which the FCC established last April to equip healthcare providers with […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has extended the public health emergency surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic until April, extending key waivers for regulations on a variety of topics such as telehealth. The public health emergency declaration was originally scheduled to expire Jan. 21. HHS Secretary Alex Azar extended the emergency Thursday, according to […]
CMS just issued a correction to its guidance on 2021 Medicare rules for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services. The correction is effective January 1, 2021 and revises the preamble commentary in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, previously published on December 1, 2020. It adds language that was inadvertently deleted from the Final Rule, summarizing and responding some […]
As the new year begins and the nation looks to tackle COVID-19 and move on, telehealth will be front and center in a lot of conversations from the halls of Congress to the patient’s home. By Eric Wicklund January 25, 2021 – Telehealth policy and new methods for connected care will figure prominently in healthcare during 2021, and Xtelligent […]
CMS just issued a correction to its guidance on 2021 Medicare rules for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services. The correction is effective January 1, 2021 and revises the preamble commentary in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, previously published on December 1, 2020. It adds language that was inadvertently deleted from the Final Rule, summarizing and responding some […]
Remote patient monitoring has finally gone mainstream. After more than two decades of cultivation – from cardiac telemetry to Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuffs and now to wearable devices – the technological progress of remote patient monitoring (RPM) has finally intersected with other trends in medicine such as telehealth (and of course COVID) to make this […]
December 9, 2020 Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority LeaderMcCarthy: The undersigned organizations represent millions of individuals facing serious, acute and chronic healthconditions across the country. Our organizations have a unique perspective on what individuals need toprevent disease, cure illness and manage chronic health conditions. The diversity of our groups […]
[co-authors: Adrienne Peng, and Michelle Fong] As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order […]
In an update posted this week in the Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has amended the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule to clarify reimbursement for remote patient monitoring programs. By Eric Wicklund January 20, 2021 – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made corrections to the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule, opening the door […]
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General recently has disclosed it is conducting an audit of home health services that were provided as telehealth during COVID-19. In addition, it is studying the challenges home health agencies (HHAs) have faced in providing care during the pandemic. In recent months, the Centers for […]
Passed by Congress Dec. 21, 2020, and signed by President Donald Trump Dec. 27, 2020, the $1.4 trillion omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133), includes numerous statutory provisions that directly affect healthcare providers. The spending bill funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 2021, and provides a $300 […]
Dive Brief: Members of an influential congressional advisory committee on Medicare are torn on how best to regulate telehealth after the COVID-19 public health emergency, hinting at the difficulty Washington faces as it looks to impose guardrails on virtual care without restricting its use after the pandemic ends. During a Thursday virtual meeting, the Medicare […]
