Congress to Grant Extension of Telehealth Flexibilities

C-TAC is pleased to see that Congress plans to temporarily address the need to extend the Medicare rules that allow beneficiaries to access virtual care from their homes during the pandemic public health emergency (PHE).  The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, as released, provides a broad five-month extension past the PHE which will include two areas for which C-TAC has advocated.  First, for advance care planning (ACP) counseling; it is important that Medicare beneficiaries continue to be able to access telehealth-enabled advance care planning services throughout the PHE and beyond.  Demand for these ACP conversations has increased greatly during the pandemic and early reports indicate high patient satisfaction with telehealth services.  Second, the bill allows for audio-only telehealth ACP; this will enable many traditionally underserved and low-income beneficiaries to more easily access these important conversations with their providers.  The bill also includes delaying the requirement for face-to-face recertification of eligibility for hospice care and in-person requirements for mental health care and expands telehealth access for health centers and rural health clinics.

In addition, the bill calls for a “Telehealth Report,” and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to provide the report to Congress no later than 180 days after bill become law.  The report will describe the “impact of the actions taken by the Secretary during the COVID- 19 public health emergency (PHE) to increase telehealth services under the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Programs…”  The extension enables HHS to collect and analyze data on telehealth and calls for a MedPAC study on the implications for care and spending under Medicare.  C-TAC will continue its advocacy for permanently removing the geographic originating site requirement for Medicare ACP services and ACP delivered via audio-only telehealth.

Written by: Brian Lindberg, C-TAC Senior Policy Advisor