The Alliance for Connected Care led 188 organizations in a letter urging House Ways & Means Committee leaders to advance the Telehealth Expansion Act of 2023 (H.R. 1843/S. 1001) to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
The Telehealth Expansion Act of 2023 is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would make permanent the pandemic-era policy that enabled employers to provide telehealth services on a pre-deductible basis to individuals with high-deductible health plans coupled with a health savings account (HDHP-HSA). The bill would ensure this critical telehealth flexibility continues for the more than 32 million Americans with these plans on a permanent basis beyond the current extension through December 31, 2024. This commonsense policy has helped ensure families could access vital telehealth services – including virtual primary care and behavioral health services – prior to having to meet their deductible. In fact, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), about 96 percent of employers adopted pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services as a result of this pandemic-era provision.
The letter supported a successful effort in advocating for the favorable reporting of this bill out of the House Ways & Means Committee during a markup of the bill on June 7, 2023. See the Alliance statement here.
For more information and the Alliance’s advocacy on this policy, please click here.