U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and 49 fellow colleagues on April 29 signed on as original cosponsors of a bipartisan bill that would expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services and make permanent COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities.
The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021, S. 1512, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), would permanently remove all geographic restrictions on telehealth services and expand originating sites to include the home and other sites, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Tillis’ office.
Additionally, the bill would permit health centers and rural health clinics to provide telehealth services, which is currently a temporary provision, the summary says.
“The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the broad utilization of telehealth services, highlighting the invaluable role it can play in making patient-centered health care more accessible,” Sen. Tillis said. “I am proud to support the reintroduction of this commonsense legislation to modernize our healthcare system and improve outcomes for all North Carolina patients.”
The CONNECT for Health Act was first introduced in 2016 and is considered the most comprehensive legislation on telehealth in Congress, according to the senator’s staff, which said several provisions of the bill have been enacted into law or adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The updated version of the CONNECT for Health Act builds on that progress and would provide the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services with the permanent authority to waive telehealth restrictions; allow for the waiver of telehealth restrictions during public health emergencies; and require a study to learn more about how telehealth has been used during the ongoing pandemic, according to the summary.
The companion bill, H.R. 2903, was introduced on April 28 by U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson (R-OH) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).