When it comes to the importance of telehealth, for older adults and anyone else, the Senate Subcommittee on Health Care and healthcare organizations appear to be on the same page.
Both subcommittee members and outside experts weighed in on the value of telehealth during a hearing Tuesday afternoon, including the value of options for conditions that predominantly affect older adults, such as stroke and heart failure.
Congress is considering making pandemic-era telehealth coverage permanent via the CONNECT for Health Act of 2023; currently, Medicare coverage of certain telehealth options is set to expire at the end of 2024.
“I’ve seen firsthand what telehealth means [for patients],” Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD) said to open the hearing. “It’s less costly for the consumer, that’s for sure. We have to underscore the importance of permanency: if you are a provider, you need to know a health plan won’t be disrupted because Congress is late in extending these rules.”
Cardin offered an anecdote that he’d recently seen a veteran in western Maryland get “timely, quality telehealth care” from a clinician in Baltimore, 150 miles away.
Among those who submitted written testimony for the hearing were leaders with the American Hospital Association, which urged the committee to make the telehealth access permanent.
“We strongly support the provision in the legislation which would permanently remove the geographic restrictions that currently limit where patients can access telehealth services,” AHA Executive Vice President Stacey Hughes said in a statement. “We would encourage consideration of simply eliminating originating site restrictions altogether. Doing so would ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries can access services regardless of where they and their providers are physically located.”
Because the bill was reintroduced over the summer, there has been bipartisan support for its passing, with 60 senators and six bipartisan sponsors endorsing the legislation.
President Biden also has made recent remarks about the importance of increasing healthcare access in underserved communities and training new healthcare workers.
