The Health Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee discussed 15 bills yesterday to ensure patients maintain access to telehealth services. Full Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) said the COVID-19 pandemic “opened our eyes to the many benefits telehealth services provide to patients, especially those in rural areas or who are homebound. We want to ensure patients continue to have the choice whether to go to a doctor in person or use telehealth when appropriate and more convenient for them.”
A study done under the auspices for the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation found that less than one percent of medical services and treatments were provided through telemedicine in January 2020. During the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (March to April 2020), telehealth was used for 80 percent of all health visits, according to Medicare. Since this pandemic fueled peak, telehealth utilization has settled with an average of 15.5 percent of Medicare Part B beneficiaries using telehealth from the 3rd quarter of 2021 through the 2nd quarter of 2023.
Lawmakers and witnesses discussed measures that create a framework to maintain access to telehealth services in Medicare, while ensuring appropriate guardrails are in place to prevent fraud and abuse.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society Patient Advocate Jeanette Ashlock contracted the disease when she was 30. She said the first eight years were difficult with multiple symptoms and numerous attempts to stabilize her with different medications.
She testified that telehealth is essential. “Many times, I’ve called and been told that I can’t get an in-person visit for months, but I can get a quick telehealth visit right away. I’ve been able to stay on-schedule with my visits, and bring up issues right away, so I can prevent them from becoming more serious down the road.”
Dr. Lee Schwamm told lawmakers that he pioneered the development of telemedicine for stroke care, called telestroke. “It has given me the ability to evaluate how my patients are recovering in their home environment, to determine the safety of that home and the need for additional services,” he said, speaking on behalf of the American Heart Association.
“So often we give lip service to providing ‘patient-centered’ care, but rarely do we deliver on that promise. Telehealth allows us to live up to that promise,” he said.
Medicare Rights Center President Fred Riccardi cautioned that while Medicare applauds the policy flexibilities during the pandemic that helped patients with improved health outcomes, “not all beneficiary experiences have been positive—or studied. Telehealth service quality and the impact of these changes on health care disparities also remain largely unexamined, though research to date suggests inequities between in-person and remote care, as well as in accessing telemedicine across numerous demographic categories: age, race, ethnicity, preferred language, and income.”
“We are skeptical of calls to broadly extend the telehealth system without needed updates, such as requirements for additional information gathering, service oversight, and beneficiary protections,” said Riccardi. “To be clear, we do not support a return to the overly restrictive pre-pandemic treatment of Medicare telehealth services.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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