Senators Propose Additional Funding for Telehealth in Nursing Homes

A pair of Senators have announced a new bill aimed at funding senior living centers to improve access to telehealth and mHealth during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Introduced late last week, the Advancing Connectivity during the Coronavirus to Ensure Support for Seniors (ACCESS) Act, sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Bob Casey (D-PA), would set $50 million aside to help the Health and Human Service Department expand connected health platforms to nursing facilities through the HHS Telehealth Resource Center.

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“Protecting our seniors during this coronavirus outbreak does not have to come at the expense of their access to quality health care and maintaining ties to family and friends,” Klobuchar, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said in a press release. “This new legislation would help ensure that federal funding is available to expand telehealth and virtual services at nursing facilities so that seniors remain connected to their health care providers and communities when in-person visits are limited during the pandemic.” 

“While we are working to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we must do everything we can to support the wellbeing of older Americans - who are the most at risk population,” Casey added. “The Advancing Connectivity during the Coronavirus to Ensure Support for Seniors (ACCESS) Act would help nursing homes utilize technology so residents can visit their loved ones while adhering to the recommendations of social distancing. This critical bill would help seniors reduce their risk of exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19), while remaining connected to family and friends during this unprecedented public health crisis.” 

The bill comes roughly a week after the White House ordered nursing homes to shut their doors to visitors in hopes of reducing the risk to one of the most vulnerable populations.

Expanding telehealth platforms in senior centers would enable care providers to isolate those at risk of infection as well as those already testing positive, giving providers an opportunity to treat them without risking exposure to themselves or others.

Under the proposed bill, the $50 million would come from HHS through Medicare and Medicaid “to assist nursing facilities … in expanding their use of telehealth services.

It would also require the HHS Secretary to study new ways to use telehealth in existing and newly designated nursing facilities, and it would establish an HHS grant program for facilities developing virtual visit platform to keep seniors in touch with their families and friends during the emergency.