On July 27, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation that would extend key telehealth reimbursement flexibilities through the end of 2024. The chamber voted 416 to 12 to pass the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, sending the legislation to the Senate. This bill was celebrated by telehealth advocates.
Legislation
If passed in the Senate, this bill would extend several Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2024. First, it would remove geographic requirements and expanding originating sites for telehealth services to enable beneficiaries in both rural and non-rural communities to receive telehealth services from their home or any other location. Second, it would expand the list of telehealth-eligible providers to include qualified occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language therapists and audiologists
Third, it would delay the in-person visit requirements for the delivery of mental health services via telehealth, including those furnished by rural health clinics and federally qualified health clinics. It also includes audio-only as a covered telehealth modality and allows for the use of telehealth to conduct a face-to-face encounter prior to recertification of eligibility for hospice care.
The legislation will now advance to the Senate, where it is similarly expected to receive strong support, though timing of such consideration remains unknown given a crowded legislative calendar. While some stakeholders and members of Congress expressed disappointment that Congress will not advance a permanent extension of these PHE-enabled telehealth practices, this legislation is expected to allow Congress more time both to consider permanent telehealth reform and to reach agreement on bipartisan offsets to pay for the costs of permanently extending these telehealth practices.
Telehealth Advocates Support
In a statement, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) praised the House for its action. “Today, we took a significant step forward in providing much needed stability in access to care for millions of Americans, with the U.S. House vote to extend key telehealth flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) until the end of 2024. We cannot allow patients to lose access to telehealth post-pandemic, and this bill will provide stability through 2024, while giving Congress time to address how to make the policies permanent. We congratulate our longstanding policy champions in the House for their continued support and overwhelming acknowledgement that telehealth is an essential part of care delivery,” said Kyle Zebley, vice president, public policy, the ATA, and executive director, ATA Action. “Telehealth has long been a bipartisan healthcare issue and we now turn to the Senate to ensure this important piece of legislation makes it to President Biden’s desk so he can sign it into law.”