August 3, 2020
| The Honorable Mike Thompson 406 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC, 20515 | The Honorable David Schweikert 1526 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
| The Honorable Peter Welch 2187 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | The Honorable Bill Johnson 2336 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
| The Honorable Doris Matsui 2311 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
Dear Representatives Thompson, Welch, Matsui, Schweikert, and Johnson:
Thank you for your continued leadership on telehealth as leaders of the House Telehealth Caucus. The undersigned organizations are pleased to support your recently introduced legislation, the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2020 (HR 7663). This legislation takes critical steps toward ensuring all Medicare beneficiaries have continued access to telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) period.
For nearly 20 years, Medicare statute has severely limited telehealth services while other payers increasingly relied on telehealth to provide care to patients when and where they need it. This disparity became shockingly clear when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and in-person care was not an option for most patients. While Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acted quickly to implement waivers to allow for the reimbursement of telehealth services during the COVID- 19 PHE, seniors will lose access to this important care unless Congress again takes decisive action.
According to preliminary data from CMS, in the last week of April, nearly 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries utilized telehealth services versus 13,000 per week prior to the PHE.[1] Utilization did not significantly vary across geographical location (rural vs. urban), sex, race, or ethnicity.[2] Health care systems, providers, and the federal government (via grants) invested heavily in telehealth over the past few months to ensure their patients can continue to receive necessary care. There is no longer doubt that clinicians and patients alike benefit from the utilization of telehealth; however, whether these services can continue to be utilized widely after the PHE depends on further action from Congress.
If passed, the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2020 will provide CMS the authority and ability to make evidenced-based decisions to ensure all Medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to these important services. The legislation includes four major and vital provisions to this end:
- Removing arbitrary geographic restrictions on where a patient must be located in order to utilize telehealth services;
- Enabling patients to continue to receive telehealth services in their homes;
- Ensuring federally qualified health centers and rural health centers can furnish telehealth services; and
- Establishing permanent waiver authority for the Secretary of Health & Human Services during future emergency periods and for 90 days after the expiration of a public health emergency period.
Thank you for your continued leadership and we look forward to working with you to ensure the
Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2020 becomes law.
Sincerely,
| 98point6 Inc. | LeadingAge |
| Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) | Legal Action Center Leidos |
| Adventist Health | León Concierge Medicine |
| AGMP Telehealth | Lewy Body Dementia Association |
| Allergy & Asthma Network | LifePoint Health |
| Alliance for Aging Research | LifeWIRE Corp |
| Alliance for Connected Care | LiV-Connected |
| Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy | Livongo |
| Alliance of Community Health Plans | Maury Regional Health |
| ALS Association | Medical Group Management Association |
| Alzheimer’s Foundation of America | MediTelecare |
| Amazon Web Services | MedStar Health |
| American Academy of Family Physicians | MEDWEB |
| American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine | Meetcaregivers |
| American Academy of Neurology | Mend VIP, Inc. |
| American Academy of PAs | Miles for Migraine |
| American Association for Respiratory Care | MindPath Care Centers, PLLC |
| American Association of Nurse Practitioners | Minnesota HIMSS Chapter |
| American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists | Mount Sinai Health System |
| American College of Physicians | MUSC Health |
| American Geriatrics Society | mvmtAi inc. |
| American Heart Association | National Association of ACOs |
| American Nurses Association | National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners |
| American Pharmacists Association | National Association of Rural Health Clinics |
| American Psychological Association | National Association of Social Workers |
| American Society of Pediatric Nephrology | National Council of State Boards of Nursing |
| American Telemedicine Association | National Headache Foundation |
| American Urological Association | National League for Nursing |
| Amwell | National Organization for Rare Disorders |
| AspenRidge Recovery | National Patient Advocate Foundation |
| Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness | Neighborhood Service Organization |
| Association of Departments of Family Medicine | Net Medical Xpress |
| Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists | New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. |
| Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors | NewWave Telecom & Technologies |
| At Your Service Psychiatry, PLLC | NextGen Healthcare |
| athenahealth | North American Primary Care Research Group |
| Avenu Healthcare Services Babylon | OCHIN |
| Bay Rivers Telehealth | Oncology Nursing Society |
| Alliance Beacon Medical Group, Inc. | One Medical |
| Bear River Mental Health Services, Inc. | Palmetto Care Connections |
| Better Medicare Alliance | PAs in Virtual Medicine and Telemedicine |
| Brave Health | Pathways |
| bright.md | PCHAlliance |
| California Health Information Partnership & Services Organization (CalHIPSO) | Primary Care Collaborative |
| California Psychological Association | Providence St. Joseph Health |
| Care Home By RNs Caregility | Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN) |
| Center to Advance Palliative Care Centerstone | PursueCare |
| Change Healthcare | QueerDoc, PLLC |
| Cheyenne Regional Medical Center | Qure4u, Inc |
| ChristianaCare | Quio Technologies |
| CHRISTUS Health Chronic Care Management | RediClinic, LLC |
| Chronic Migraine Awareness, Inc. CirrusMD Inc. | Residential Eating Disorders Consortium |
| Cleveland Clinic Florida and CompreCare Affiliate | RethinkMyHealthcare |
| Clusterbusters | Rhinogram, LLC |
| Cognova, LLC | Royal Philips |
| College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) | School Based Urgent Care Network |
| Columbia University Irving Medical Center | Senior Care Clinic House Calls |
| Comprehensive Headache Clinic | Shatterproof |
| Consumer Technology Association | SHIELDS For Families |
| Convenient Care Association COPD Foundation | Society of General Internal Medicine Society of Teachers of Family Medicine |
| Cosan Group | Sound Physicians |
| Covenant HealthCare | South Carolina Primary Health Care Association |
| CoverMyMeds | Southern Headache Society |
| Cromford Health | Spectrum Health |
| CU Healthcare Innovation Fund | Spina Bifida Association |
| Curve Health | Stanford Health Care |
| Danielle Byron Henry Migraine Foundation | Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) |
| Diabetes Management Partners DBA GlyCare | Strategic Interests |
| Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition (DPAC) | Strategic Solutions |
| Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) | Suquino Inc |
| Doctor On Demand DocViaWeb | Sutter Health |
| doxy.me | Synergia Integrated teleBehavioral Health |
| Dr. Austin Roberts Family And Implant Dentistry Duke Health | Talkspace |
| Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action | TapestryHealth |
| eHealth Initiative | Teladoc Health |
| Electronic Health Record Association Endocrine Society | Telehealth Alliance of Oregon |
| Epic Systems Corporation | TeleMed2U |
| ExamMed | The ERISA Industry Committee |
| Federation of American Hospitals | The Headache and Migraine Policy Forum |
| Foothold Technology | The Joint Commission |
| Four Corners Community Behavioral Health Inc. | The MAVEN Project |
| Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) | The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research |
| GlobalMed | The TeleDentists |
| GlobalMedia Group, LLC DBA | The University of Texas at Austin, UT Health Austin |
| GlobalMed GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer | Third Eye Health, Inc. |
| Go2Care | Tir Health Advisors LLC |
| Greenway Health, LLC | Tourette Association of America |
| Hazel Health | Trinity Health |
| HCA Healthcare Health Catalyst, Inc. | United Spinal Association |
| Health Innovation Alliance | University of Michigan |
| Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) |
| Healthcare Leadership Council | University of San Diego |
| HealthFlow.io | University Spine & Sports Specialists, PLLC |
| Hims & Hers HiTalk | URAC |
| Holland Healthcare | Validic, Inc. |
| Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) | VirtuOx |
| HSH Lifestyles, LLC | Vital Voice and Speech |
| inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics, Inc. | ViTel Net |
| InSight + Regroup | Welcome Home Health, Inc. |
| Intel Corporation | Wendy M Smith and Associates |
| International OCD Foundation | Xylo Technologies Inc |
| Johns Hopkins Medicine | Yale New Haven Health System |
| KJ Solutions | Yorktel |
| Langlois Medical Corporation | Ziegler |
| Leadership OD | Zocdoc |
[1] www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200715.454789/full/