2 New Telehealth Bills Aim to Solidify Expanded Virtual Care Access

Congress will consider two new bills that intend to create accessible options for virtual healthcare, particularly for some Medicare beneficiaries and rural residents.

US Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) with Sen. John Barrasso M.D. (R-WY) and Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Dan Kildee (D-MI), John Joyce M.D. (R-PA), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) sought to continue the availability of certain telehealth services amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, the bipartisan, bicameral legislation, known as the Kidney Health Connect Act, aims to enable patients with End-Stage Renal Disease to continue to connect with their providers virtually. If enacted into the law, the legislation would allow dialysis clinics to serve as originating sites for Medicare telehealth services and remove a 20 percent facility fee coinsurance obligation for patients obtaining clinical services through telehealth.

“The pandemic showed us that telehealth is a critical tool in providing timely and safe access to healthcare while cutting costs for patients and providers,” said Warner in a press release. “After working to expand telehealth to home dialysis in 2018, I’m proud to build on those efforts by introducing legislation that would permanently increase telehealth flexibilities for the many Americans that rely on dialysis centers.”

The second bill, introduced by Congressmen Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Adrian Smith (R-NE), and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), also intends to widen access to telehealth services.

Known as the Connecting Rural Telehealth to the Future Act, the bill would extend all temporary telehealth provisions included in the FY22 omnibus for another two years, until Dec. 31, 2024. The bill will also allow the permanent use of audio technologies, restore rural health clinic and federally qualified health center reimbursements for telehealth to their standard reimbursement methods, and continue to allow critical access hospitals to directly bill for telehealth.

“One positive advancement made during the pandemic is the increased access to telehealth,” said Armstrong in a press release. “In rural states like North Dakota, patients often struggle to get the care they need due to a variety of factors, one being distance to the nearest provider. I am proud to support this legislation, which will prevent unnecessary regulatory barriers from hampering the advancement and implementation of telehealth services.”

There are several ongoing efforts to solidify telehealth use and access amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Last week, four US Senators, who are part of the Senate Committee on Finance, released a discussion draft of telehealth policies for mental healthcare initiatives.

At the state level, Alabama, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania passed or are attempting to pass bills regarding telehealth. Revolving around the goal of increasing accessibility, the bills made numerous proposals, including eliminating requirements for an initial in-person visit before telehealth appointments can occur.