Kaine, Colleagues Call for the Extension of Expanded Medicare Coverage of Telehealth Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and a bipartisan group of 100 lawmakers called for the extension of expanded Medicare coverage of telehealth services to be included in government funding legislation that Congress is working to pass by the December 20 deadline. The telehealth provisions, which are set to expire at the end of the year, were originally included in COVID-19 relief legislation and allow Medicare beneficiaries across the country to utilize telehealth services and expand the types of health care providers that are eligible to provide telehealth services. In the letter to congressional leaders, the lawmakers request the measures be extended or made permanent.

“Expanded Medicare coverage for telehealth services is set to expire on December 31, 2024. As you work to advance a year-end appropriations package, we urge you to extend coverage as much as possible so that all Medicare beneficiaries retain access to these services,” wrote the lawmakers.

They continued, “Telehealth provides essential access to care and improves outcomes, including reduced emergency department utilization and improved medication adherence. Medicare beneficiaries have come to rely on expanded access to telehealth services and are satisfied with the care they receive. While there is overwhelming support for Congress to enact permanent telehealth legislation, we must provide patients and clinicians with long-term certainty to support continued investment in technology and clinical models to meet the evolving health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries.”

Kaine has long fought to expand telehealth services. Last year, Kaine introduced the CONNECT for Health Act of 2023, which would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, permanently remove all geographic restrictions on telehealth services, allow health centers and rural health clinics to provide telehealth, remove unnecessary in-person visit requirements to access telemental health services, and more. This June, Kaine also reintroduced the Medicare-X Choice Act, legislation that would create a public option by expanding on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicare and increase access to affordable health insurance for families, individuals, and small businesses.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries:

Expanded Medicare coverage for telehealth services is set to expire on December 31, 2024. As you work to advance a year-end appropriations package, we urge you to extend coverage as much as possible so that all Medicare beneficiaries retain access to these services.

Telehealth plays a critical role in health care delivery – a fact that Congress has recognized by expanding coverage during and after the COVID-19 public health emergency. Most recently, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Congress enacted a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth services coverage. Committees of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives have recently recognized the need to protect patients’ access to telehealth services by voting to advance an additional two-year extension on a bipartisan, unanimous basis.

We ask you to prioritize provisions that remove geographic restrictions on telehealth services and permit the home and other clinically appropriate settings as originating sites. Congress should also expand the authority for practitioners eligible to furnish telehealth services. Rural and underserved communities rely on telehealth services, and Congress should recognize federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics as telehealth distant site providers. Additionally, Congress should allow the use of telehealth in the recertification of hospice care. Finally, telehealth has transformed mental and behavioral health care, now accounting for 40 percent of telehealth services provided under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Therefore, Congress should permanently repeal the six-month in-person visit requirement for telemental health services. It should also reject similar policies that create barriers to care.

Telehealth provides essential access to care and improves outcomes, including reduced emergency department utilization and improved medication adherence.  Medicare beneficiaries have come to rely on expanded access to telehealth services and are satisfied with the care they receive.  While there is overwhelming support for Congress to enact permanent telehealth legislation, we must provide patients and clinicians with long-term certainty to support continued investment in technology and clinical models to meet the evolving health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries. We appreciate your collaboration and leadership on this issue and look forward to working with you to ensure access to telehealth services is retained by the end of 2024.

Sincerely,

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