Telehealth access for Medicare patients in limbo
Becker's Healthcare August 9, 2024
It is anticipated that Congress will extend telehealth access rules for Medicare patients, though likely not until after the election. This delay could have significant repercussions, Politico reported Aug. 9.
Since the introduction of pandemic-era telehealth provisions in 2020, tens of millions of beneficiaries have utilized these services. CMS lacks the authority to extend these rules independently and has proposed allowing them to expire at the end of 2024.
Earlier this year, the House Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce committees advanced separate two-year extensions of the telehealth rules. Despite bipartisan support for extending these provisions, they are expected to be included in an end-of-year legislative package, with lawmakers needing to find offsets for the cost.
This uncertainty...