National Law Review June 22, 2021
On 29 April 2021, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021, S. 1512 (the Act).1 The bill, which currently has 59 cosponsors in the Senate,2 aims to codify the currently expanded access to telehealth services provided for by the current Section 1135 waivers due to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), in addition to other measures that support the provision of telehealth care. Prior to implementation of the Section 1135 waivers, telehealth visits were only reimbursable by Medicare under narrow circumstances, including the requirements that the services generally be provided in a designated rural area and from a qualifying originating site, which did not include a...