HIMMSS recently reported that on June 29, 2020, 340 organizations signed a letter urging Congress to make telehealth flexibilities created during the COVID-19 pandemic, permanent. 

Those signing the letter include national and regional organizations representing a range of healthcare stakeholders in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Congress quickly waived statutory barriers to allow for expanded access to telehealth at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing federal agencies with the flexibility to allow healthcare providers to deliver care virtually. 

Stakeholders also want Congress to remove restrictions on the location of the patient to ensure that all patients can access care at home, and other appropriate locations; to maintain and enhance HHS authority to determine appropriate providers and services for telehealth; ensure federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics can furnish telehealth services after the public health emergency; and make permanent the Health and Human Services temporary waiver authority for future emergencies.

While federal agencies can address some of these policies going forward, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid does not have the authority to make changes to Medicare policy for telehealth reimbursement under current law, stakeholders said.

If Congress does not act before the COVID-19 public health emergency expires, current flexibilities will disappear, according to stakeholders. The Public Health Emergency (PHE) is scheduled to expire in July.

In a tweet late yesterday, Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for public affairs, said HHS is expected to renew the PHE before it expires. It has already been renewed once.

The use of telehealth has skyrocketed under in-person restrictions under COVID-19. Private health plans have followed suit, the letter said, resulting in a 4,300% year-over-year increase in claims for March 2020.

Telehealth during the PHE has changed the way healthcare services are provided to patients. The feedback contacts have given us the since the PHE started is that patients like the option of having a telehealth versus an inpatient visit. It is critical that the reimbursement issue allowing the same payment as a in-person visit be agreed to as part of any legislated agreement. 

We believe some of the benefits of continuing telemedicine visits are as follows: improving access to care; potentially lowering costs for patients requiring chronic care management and a higher quality of care because of improved communication between the physician and patient.