The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held an April 10 hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Support Patient Access to Telehealth Services.” During the hearing, subcommittee members discussed extending telehealth waivers in place since the COVID-19 public health emergency that are set to expire at the end of 2024. Throughout the hearing, lawmakers touched on key topics in telehealth, including providing patients with greater access to mental health and specialty care services, benefits for older patients and those with disabilities, filling care gaps and promotion of health equity in rural and underserved areas, and mitigating physician shortages and burnout.
Other issues discussed were appropriate payment rates for telehealth services, geographic and site restrictions, and services that benefit most from telehealth. While there was broad, bipartisan support for extending or potentially making the existing telehealth waivers permanent, several subcommittee members raised concerns about the cost of such extensions and how Congress would offset them. The AAMC remains strongly supportive of extending telehealth waivers from the COVID-19 pandemic and recently joined a letter with over 200 organizations urging Congress to extend them [refer to Washington Highlights, Feb. 23].
- Washington Highlights