Alliance submits letter of support for Maryland HB 670 – Study on Expansion of Interstate Telehealth
On February 8, the Alliance for Connected Care submitted a letter of support for Maryland House Bill 670, which would require the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) to study the ways that interstate telehealth can be expanded to allow Maryland residents to use telehealth to receive health services from out-of-state practitioners.
As a telehealth advocacy organization, the Alliance believes that one of the biggest barriers to telehealth becoming a regular patient and provider choice is the administrative burden caused by the variation in licensure requirements from state to state. This bill would allow the state to evaluate the role interstate telehealth can play in addressing health care needs. We believe such a study is critical to help show the value expanding interstate telehealth practice can have on increasing access to care and ensuring continuity of care, particularly for rural and underserved areas and areas experiencing provider shortages.
To read the full letter, click here and see below:
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Open in new tab Alliance Support Letter for Maryland SB 154
The Alliance submitted a letter of support to Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, Chair of the Maryland Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee, for Senate bill 154.
Senate Bill 154 would adopt the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact. Under this compact, Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) licensed in a Compact member state may practice in another Compact member state, allowing APRNs to have one multistate license with the ability to practice in all Compact states without having to obtain additional licenses.
The APRN Compact would establish multistate compacts that have reciprocity and that do not require additional licensing, while simultaneously helping to improve patient access to quality health care. Additionally, removing the requirement for collaborative practice agreements for licensure purposes through Senate Bill 154 would allow APRNs to practice at the top of their licenses, allowing them to use all their education and training to care for patients.
Read the full letter here and below:
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Alliance Statement on the Introduction of the Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act
Legislation by Senators Cortez Masto and Young creates the path to retain patient access to telehealth
WASHINGTON D.C. February 7, 2022 – The Alliance for Connected Care (“The Alliance”) is pleased to support the introduction of the bipartisan Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act (S. 3593) and applauds Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Young (R-IN) for their leadership in drafting this crucial legislation to ensure predictable patient access to telehealth following the end of the public health emergency.
“We call on Congress to take up and pass the Telehealth Evaluation and Extension Act this spring, said Alliance for Connected Care executive director, Krista Drobac. This legislation will provide certainty to beneficiaries and healthcare providers alike, while ensuring sufficient time is taken to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient care throughout the pandemic to inform permanent telehealth reform.”
The Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act will establish a 2-year extension of the widely supported telehealth services Congress enacted during the pandemic, while ensuring a thorough evaluation of these services prior to future permanent action by Congress. The legislation also includes extremely important provisions to ensure the continued provision of telehealth services by Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers – and important provisions to ensure continued access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) through telehealth.
Read the full statement here.
Bill text can be found here. A section-by-section summary can be found here. Press release can be found here.
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Stakeholders send letter to Senate HELP Committee leaders urging consideration of addressing state licensing limitations in clinical trials
Today, 17 organizations sent a letter to Senate HELP Committee leaders, urging them to consider addressing state licensing limitations in clinical trials in the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act).
The discussion draft of the PREVENT Pandemics Act was released by Senate HELP Committee leadership last week. This bipartisan legislation is focused on strengthening the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response systems in the wake of COVID-19.
Section 502 of the PREVENT Pandemics Act is focused on modernizing clinical trials, and would require the FDA to issue three pieces of guidance to modernize and improve clinical trials, including the use of:
- Digital health technologies in clinical trials to help improve recruitment, participation, and data collection.
- Decentralized clinical trials to improve trial participant engagement and advance the use of flexible and novel clinical trial designs.
- Seamless, concurrent, and other innovative clinical trial designs to support the expedited development and review of drugs and biological products.
The letter urges the Committee to consider an additional requirement of the FDA to include in this section in order to address state licensing limitations that effectively prohibit clinicians working on clinical trials from recruiting patients from outside the state in which they are licensed, thereby diminishing the impact of the federal changes aimed at decentralizing clinical trials. This is especially important for rare diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, for which utilizing clinical trials across state lines, enabled by telehealth, may significantly increase the likelihood of a successful and diverse clinical trial.
To read the full letter, click here or see below:
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Alliance Submits Comments to House Ways & Means Committee on America’s Mental Health
The Alliance for Connected Care submitted a letter to the House Ways & Means Committee providing input to the Committee hearing on “America’s Mental Health Crisis.”
Our letter summarizes the following recommendations:
- Congress should permanently remove obstructive in-person requirements on mental health through telehealth.
- Congress should move to fully remove outdated originating site requirements on telehealth.
- Congress should ensure continued access to audio-only mental health care.
- Congress should ensure Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), and Rural Health Clinics can furnish telehealth in Medicare.
- Congress should work with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to address provider enrollment concerns and facilitate actions to reduce provider burdens.
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More than 330 Stakeholders Seek Leadership from Congress to Create Permanent Comprehensive Telehealth Reform
Washington, DC, January 31, 2022 – Today, more than 330 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging their leadership in facilitating a pathway to comprehensive permanent telehealth reform that would provide certainty to patients and our nation’s healthcare providers while providing sufficient time for Congress and the administration to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient care. The letter was co-led by the Alliance for Connected Care, American Telemedicine Association (ATA), College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Consumer Technology Association (CTA), Executives for Health Innovation (EHI), Health Innovation Alliance, HIMSS, Partnership to Advance Virtual Care, and the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHAlliance).
While the Biden Administration may elect to extend the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the fact that the PHE determination must be renewed every 90 days and could end later this year is creating significant uncertainty for the U.S. healthcare system. The letter calls for Congress to advance permanent telehealth reform focused on the following specific priorities:
- Authorize the continuation of all current telehealth waivers through December 31, 2024;
- Require HHS to complete all feasible evaluations related to telehealth by fall 2023 and combine findings into a single overarching dashboard with recommendations to inform permanent telehealth legislation by Congress; and
- Pass permanent, evidence-based telehealth legislation for implementation in 2024.
Virtual care is now a fundamental part of the U.S. healthcare system, and it will improve patient access to high-quality care well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient satisfaction surveys and claims data from CMS and private health plans demonstrate that many Americans have come to see telehealth as one of the most positive improvements to our nation’s healthcare system in recent memory. Importantly, a majority of U.S. voters believe Congress should protect their ability and choice to see a provider via telehealth post-pandemic.
Download the letter here.
The following quotes are from the organizations co-leading the letter:
“Congress must act to provide more certainty to beneficiaries and healthcare providers alike, while ensuring sufficient time is taken to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient care throughout the pandemic to inform permanent telehealth reform,” said Krista Drobac, Executive Director, Alliance for Connected Care. “Extending the current telehealth waivers – both those authorized by Congress and those allowed under presidential emergency powers – are critical to ensure patients can continue to access needed healthcare services and to allow providers to continue utilizing the telehealth infrastructure implemented throughout the pandemic.”
“Now is the time to give certainty to the millions of Americans who have come to rely on virtual care and give healthcare providers the tools they need to continue to deliver uninterrupted, quality care to their patients,” said Kyle Zebley, Vice President, Public Policy, American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and Executive Director, ATA Action. “This is a pivotal moment for Congress to act and secure a bipartisan win, while taking much-needed steps to modernize our healthcare system. The ATA pledges to continue to do all we can to work with our Congressional telehealth champions to secure passage of telehealth provisions as soon as possible.”
“Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have heard a chorus of support from our members related to the success they are experiencing with telehealth and its reported widespread use and support by patients. Keeping the telehealth waivers in place through 2024 will ensure that patients and providers will not abruptly lose access to this successful care delivery method, while giving Congress additional time to work on comprehensive telehealth reform,” noted Russell Branzell, President & CEO, CHIME.
“The pandemic has shown the transformative role virtual care can play in our overall healthcare system, especially ensuring quality care is accessible to as many people as possible. The waivers were a key part in allowing healthcare providers to meet patients where they live, and we risk reversing the great progress we have seen if we go back to the way things were prior to the pandemic,” said René Quashie, Vice President, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Digital Health, Consumer Technology Association.
“EHI is proud to join in leading this effort to urge Congress to act now on telehealth,” said Jen Covich Bordenick, CEO, Executives for Health Innovation (EHI). “The waivers currently in place have been crucial in allowing patients to access care when and where they need it during this unprecedented time. We cannot risk an abrupt end to these waivers at the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency period. Congress must act to extend these waivers so telehealth can continue while working toward permanent reform.”
“Congress should give seniors the option to use telehealth beyond this pandemic with a clean expansion through the end of 2024. This action will give certainty that these services will continue while working towards the ultimate goal of permanent reform,” said Brett Meeks, Health Innovation Alliance.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic began exposing gaps in our healthcare system, telehealth enabled critical access to high-quality care for patients and providers alike. Over the past two years, millions of Americans have gained firsthand experience with the benefits of telehealth and other virtual care tools, and they want to keep those benefits,” said Tom Leary, Senior Vice President and Head of Government Relations, HIMSS. “With so much uncertainty remaining around telehealth permanence, we now call on Congress to ensure millions of Americans don’t lose access to this care and to take action to enact comprehensive telehealth reform.”
“As Congress works toward a pathway for comprehensive telehealth reform, it is essential that current telehealth waivers be extended through at least 2024,” said Mara McDermott, Executive Director, Partnership to Advance Virtual Care. “Patients and providers alike need more certainty in care planning than afforded to them through the extension of the PHE every 90 days.”
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More Than 125 Organizations Urge Congress to Reinstate Virtual Care Access for Individuals with HDHP-HSAs
Letter to Congressional Leaders Stresses Urgency of Reinstating Telehealth Safe Harbor
Washington, DC – UPDATED – January 21, 2022 – Today, more than 125 organizations sent a letter to Congress to urge policymakers to reinstate the telehealth safe harbor enacted in the CARES Act that enabled employers and health plans to provide pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services for individuals with high-deductible health plans coupled with Health Savings Accounts (HDHP-HSAs). The letter was convened by the Alliance for Connected Care and includes a diverse mix of signers including patient groups, clinician organizations, employer coalitions, and digital health platforms.
During the pandemic, Congress took swift action as part of the CARES Act to ensure employees could receive covered telehealth services before their deductible is met by allowing employers to provide pre-deductible coverage for such services for individuals with HDHP-HSAs. This safe harbor was not tied to the public health emergency (PHE), and unfortunately expired on December 31, 2021.
The ability to offer pre-deductible telehealth services for employees is a meaningful expansion of health care access for the 32 million Americans with HDHP-HSAs. Congress must act soon to reinstate the virtual care provisions in the CARES Act for individuals with HDHP-HSAs so that millions of Americans can once again access these lifesaving telehealth services on a pre-deductible basis.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enabled employers to offer pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services, expanding access to care and reducing out-of-pocket costs for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, this flexibility expired on December 31, 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic and recent surge in cases due to the Omicron variant,” said Alliance for Connected Care executive director Krista Drobac. “This was the first pandemic-era telehealth policy to expire, which has and will continue to impact access to needed virtual care services for millions of Americans if Congress does not act to reinstate this provision.”
Bipartisan and widely supported legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that would extend this access for patients. The Telehealth Expansion Act of 2021 (S. 1704/H.R. 5981) would permanently extend the CARES Act authority for employers and health plans to offer pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services for individuals with HDHP-HSAs. The Primary and Virtual Care Affordability Act (H.R. 5541) would extend this CARES Act authority through December 31, 2023, and expand this provision to primary care. We strongly urge Congress to take up and consider this legislation and to retroactively reinstate this provision as part of the next possible legislative vehicle.
To read the full letter to Committee leadership, click here. To read the full letter to Congressional leadership, click here or see below. For background information on this issue, click here.
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CMS releases an update to the State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updates to the State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit: Policy Considerations for States Expanding Use of Telehealth, COVID-19 Version and the Supplement to clarify that states may deliver covered services via audio-only telehealth both during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) and beyond.
This release provides additional support state Medicaid and CHIP agencies in their adoption and implementation of telehealth.
Alliance Statement on the Telehealth Expansion Act of 2021
STATEMENT ON THE TELEHEALTH EXPANSION ACT OF 2021
November 17, 2021
WASHINGTON DC – There are more than 35 million Americans with high-deductible health plans coupled with a Health Savings Account (HDHP-HSAs). More than 50 percent of individuals with an HSA live in zip codes where the median income is below $75,000 annually. Reaching the deductible threshold of $1,400 for an individual and $2,800 for a family is often a financial strain.
Allowing employers to offer pre-deductible coverage of telehealth services for employees with HDHP-HSAs provides meaningful access to health care services before the deductible is met. Through the CARES Act, Congress gave employers the ability to provide free or reduced telehealth services to their employees during the pandemic by creating a telehealth safe harbor from certain high deductible health plan rules.
The Alliance for Connected Care (“The Alliance”) is pleased to support the Telehealth Expansion Act of 2021 (S. 1704/H.R. 5981) and applauds Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representatives Michelle Steel (R-CA) and Susie Lee (D-NV) for their leadership in introducing this bipartisan, bicameral bill. This legislation would permanently extend the CARES Act authority for employers and health plans to subsidize telehealth visits for individuals with HDHP-HSAs, which is currently set to expire on December 31, 2021.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enabled employers to offer pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services, expanding access to care and reducing out-of-pocket costs for millions of Americans,” said Alliance for Connected Care executive director Krista Drobac. “This bill will ensure individuals with HDHP-HSAs continue to have ready access to virtual-care services while remaining eligible to make and receive contributions to an HSA.”
A full statement that the Alliance made during the Senate introduction of the bill in May 2021 can be found here and below:
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