Lawmakers join calls for extension of telehealth flexibilities

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and from both branches of government are urging congressional leaders to extend pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities for as long as possible before they expire on Dec. 31, 2024.

Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-04), David Schweikert (AZ-01), Doris Matsui (CA-07) and Troy Balderson (OH-12), and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) announced on Dec. 10, 2024, that they led a letter signed by 100 members of Congress asking U.S. House and Senate leadership to extend the telehealth flexibilities and ensure that Medicare beneficiaries do not lose access to telehealth services at the end of the year.

The regulatory flexibilities enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic include waivers that eliminated geographic restrictions on originating sites for telehealth services, allowing Medicare beneficiaries to receive services from any location, and enabling federally qualified health centers and rural health centers to continue providing telehealth services. Additionally, the waivers lifted the initial in-person care requirements for those receiving telemental healthcare and retained coverage of audio-only telehealth services. In a 2022 year-end package, Congress extended these flexibilities through the end of 2024.

Lawmakers are now asking congressional leaders to extend coverage "as much as possible" as they work toward a year-end appropriations package.

"Medicare beneficiaries have come to rely on expanded access to telehealth services and are satisfied with the care they receive," the letter states. "While there is overwhelming support for Congress to enact permanent telehealth legislation, we must provide patients and clinicians with long-term certainty to support continued investment in technology and clinical models to meet the evolving health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries."

The letter comes amid mounting pressure on Congress to extend telehealth flexibilities.

Last week, 62 healthcare organizations and other companies sent a letter asking Congress to extend the flexibilities for another two years. The letter -- signed by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Cleveland Clinic, Athenahealth and Zoom Communications, Inc., among others -- also urged Congress to extend the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative, which allows healthcare provider organizations to adopt the hospital-at-home model, for two more years.

"Acting now to extend the policies initially enacted under the pandemic for an additional two years will bring much-needed stability to patients and clinicians," the letter states. "The deadline for the end of these policies comes at a time when patients are struggling with inflationary pressures, clinician burnout and recording setting Baby Boomer retirements [Sic]."

Further, the American Telemedicine Association and its advocacy arm, ATA Action, released a statement last week calling on Congress to extend telehealth flexibilities. In addition to the Medicare telehealth flexibilities, ATA Senior Vice President of Public Policy Kyle Zebley highlighted the need to extend the telehealth provision for those with high-deductible health plans coupled with Health Savings Accounts (HDHP-HSA). The provision allows Americans with HDHP-HSAs to access telehealth services before meeting their deductible.

The healthcare industry's push to extend telehealth flexibilities intensified after the public health emergency expired in May 2023. Earlier this year, virtual care stakeholders urged action on telehealth regulations well before the year-end deadline, noting in a letter that early action "will provide much-needed certainty, and safeguard against this important policy getting left behind among competing priorities at the end of the year."

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.