Alliance Sends CMS “Shovel-Ready” Digital Health Priorities
The Alliance congratulates Dr. Mehmet Oz on being confirmed as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
We look forward to working with Dr. Oz in continuing the transformation of health care in the United States, through technology-enabled care that meets patients where they are and creates cost-saving efficiencies for the federal government. There are many antiquated restrictions on care that stand in the way of our technology-enabled future.
Below, please find Alliance for Connected Care’s list of “shovel-ready” regulatory issues that CMS either has the authority to act on without Congressional action or that would benefit from CMS subject matter expertise.
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Open in new tab Alliance Calls on DEA to Rescind or Revise Telemedicine Rule
The Alliance appreciates the DEA’s forward movement on telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances policy. However, the Alliance continues to be concerned to see language in the proposed rulemaking mandating in-person visits as this is not an appropriate guardrail for a telehealth service. Similarly, restricting the geography in which telemedicine can be offered undermines the value of creating virtual access for those patients who need it most. For these reasons, the Alliance encourages the Trump Administration to withdraw this proposal and work with stakeholders to ensure continued access to comprehensive medical care through telehealth, including when a controlled substance is required.
In our below comments, we discuss how the telemedicine access created on a temporary basis by DEA increased access to care, offer specific feedback on the proposed rule, and request the DEA to work with Congress and stakeholders to advance a safe and permanent pathway to ensure continued access to comprehensive medical care through telehealth, including when a controlled substance is required. We also request that the DEA consider holding another listening session to hear from health care practitioners, experts, advocates, patients, and other members of the public, including the Alliance, on the prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine.
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Alliance Joins 300 Organizations to Make Permanent Telehealth for Employers
The Alliance for Connected Care joined more than 300 organizations to Congress urging immediate action on making permanent the telehealth flexibility allowing employers to offer telehealth below the deductible for those enrolled in a HDHP paired with an HSA.
Read the full letter here or below:
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350 Organizations Request Congress to Take Action on Telehealth in March
The Alliance for Connected Care co-led a letter, signed by almost 350 organizations, urging Congressional leadership to take action in March to establish permanent or long-term access to telehealth.
Both patients and practitioners seek assurance that services will remain available. Enhanced access to telehealth services serves as a lifeline to patients across the country, allowing patients to access critical health care services even when they have barriers to accessing in-person care, such as weakened immune systems, transportation challenges, geographic distance, and more.
Read the full letter here or below:
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Over 150 Stakeholders Send Letter to DEA
The Alliance for Connected Care led a letter, signed by more than 150 organizations, to the Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting her leadership in maintaining the access to telehealth that President Trump initiated during his first term.
More than 150 organizations have signed this letter, including business groups like the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council and Consumer Technology Association, pharmacy experts like the American Pharmacists Association and American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists, mental health organizations like the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and Inseparable, health systems like Johns Hopkins and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and aging organizations like the National Alliance for Care at Home and LeadingAge.
Read the full letter here or below:
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Alliance Submits Statement for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Hearing on Modernizing American Health Care
The Alliance for Connected Care submitted a statement for the record for the House Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health hearing, “Modernizing American Health Care: Creating Healthy Options and Better Incentives” on February 11, 2025.
“Telehealth has supported greater access to care nationwide, including for the more than 30 million Americans in Medicare and many of the 33 million Americans with High-Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts….
“While we deeply appreciate Congressional action to extend Medicare telehealth provisions through March 31, 2025, this was unfortunately only part of the extension needed to preserve full access to telehealth services. It is imperative that Congress act quickly to restore telehealth access lost in December and avert a loss of access to Medicare telehealth in March. Telehealth is a bipartisan policy, as demonstrated by the broadly supported 2022 legislation which extended telehealth flexibilities through 2024. While our priority is legislation that would establish permanent telehealth policies, we recognize achieving this goal could be a multi-year process. As such, we request your leadership in ensuring Americans are able to access the same telehealth that they were able to utilize in 2024 in the future. We urge you to act in in March to create permanent or long-term access to telehealth.”
Read the letter here or below.
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Alliance Statement – DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA) RELEASES SPECIAL REGISTRATION PROPOSAL
ALLIANCE STATEMENT
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA) RELEASES SPECIAL REGISTRATION PROPOSAL
JANUARY 2025
The Alliance for Connected Care appreciates the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) forward movement on telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances policy. Today, the DEA released a notice of proposed rulemaking, which would establish a special registration framework and authorize three types of special registrations for telemedicine.
We are pleased to see the DEA propose a special registration, as required by statute, to allow comprehensive medical care through telemedicine, including Schedule II medications. These treatments are important in providing mental health, end-of-life care, substance use treatment, and many other services. Telemedicine has proven to be an effective tool in bridging the gap between patients and providers, reducing barriers to care, and supporting those most in need.
However, the Alliance is very concerned to see language in the proposed rulemaking mandating what portion of patient care can be offered through telemedicine, as this is not an appropriate guardrail for a telehealth service. Similarly, restricting the geography in which telemedicine can be offered undermines the value of creating virtual access for those patients who need it most. Restricting access to telemedicine will lead to harsh consequences for many Americans relying on telehealth for mental health, substance use disorder, sleep disorders, terminal illness, and many other medical issues.
The Alliance looks forward to working with the Trump Administration and Congress to ensure continued access to comprehensive medical care through telehealth, including when a controlled substance is required. This work is necessary to fully execute on the goals of President Trump’s Executive Order on Saving Lives Through Increased Support For Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs, which included a national call to action to increase access to telehealth.
For more on the Alliance’s work to advance access to comprehensive telehealth care, please visit https://connectwithcare.org/dea-prescribing-of-controlled-substances/
Alliance Coleads 300 Stakeholder Letter to Congressional Leaders
The Alliance for Connected Care co-led a letter, signed by almost 300 stakeholders, to Congressional leaders emphasizing the importance of preventing patient care disruptions by extending current telehealth flexibilities in an end-of-year package for a full year or more.
Read the full letter here or below:
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DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA) RELEASES THIRD EXTENSION, ENSURING CERTAINTY AND ACCESS TO PATIENTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT
Chris Adamec; cadamec@connectwithcare.org
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA) RELEASES THIRD EXTENSION, ENSURING CERTAINTY AND ACCESS TO PATIENTS
November 15, 2024
WASHINGTON DC – The Alliance for Connected Care applauds the third temporary extension of controlled substance prescribing via telemedicine rulemaking by the DEA. This one-year extension is an important step to ensure predictable access for patients, as requested by the Alliance for Connected Care and more than 300 other organizations earlier this year.
“We are pleased to see the DEA act to ensure patient care is not interrupted next month,” said Chris Adamec, executive director of the Alliance for Connected Care. “We look forward to working with the Trump Administration next year to finish the work they started in 2020 through a permanent rulemaking that creates access to comprehensive medical care, including a controlled substance when necessary, through telemedicine.”
This extension continues expanded access for all Americans, including those who may experience barriers to other types of care. These include individuals in remote rural areas, who are homebound and lack transportation, who live in areas with provider shortages, and people of all kinds whose caregiving responsibilities serve as a barrier to care.
The Alliance has long pushed for expanded access to comprehensive medical care through telemedicine, including when a controlled substance is an appropriate treatment – calling for the DEA to fulfill the bipartisan congressional mandate for a telemedicine special registration process. The Alliance strongly supports the development and implementation of a permanent policy for the prescribing of controlled substances though telemedicine to ensure these individuals do not lose access – as these are fundamental, ongoing health care access challenges for which telehealth is uniquely suited to address.
The Alliance will continue to convene patients, health care practitioners, employers, and many others who are working to ensure a future in which all Americans have access to robust and comprehensive medical care remotely.
Alliance Letter to Congressional Leaders Continued Bipartisan Leadership for Access to Telehealth
The Alliance for Connected Care sent a letter to Congressional leaders requesting their continued bipartisan leadership in assuring the public that access to telehealth services will not be allowed to lapse on December 31.
Read the full letter here or below:
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