Alliance Letter to ONDCP Special Telemedicine Registration
The Alliance for Connected Care sent the attached letter to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) applauding their inclusion of the telemedicine special registration for the prescribing of controlled substances this year as part of the Biden Administration’s First-Year Drug Policy Priorities.
The Biden Administration outlined its drug policy priorities for its first year, stressing harm reduction, racial equity and helping people with substance use disorder find employment. As part of the announcement there was included a commitment to move forward the special registration for telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances this year. As you remember, the Alliance led a letter on this issue last fall (in addition to many previous actions).
“In the first year, the Biden-Harris Administration will work through ONDCP to coordinate with other White House components and the interagency to:
- Publish final rules this year regarding telemedicine special registration and methadone treatment vans; and”
Read the full letter here and below:
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Open in new tab Group Letter to HHS Secretary Becerra on Virtual DPP
Roughly 20 organizations, including the Alliance for Connected Care have signed a letter asking Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to extend Medicare coverage for virtual visits during the PHE and “work on longer-term reforms” that would make connected health a permanent part of the program.
Given the ongoing and worsening prediabetes challenges facing seniors, expectations that the PHE will continue throughout 2021, and the cessation of many in-person DPP programs, we believe CMS must act immediately to preserve access to these services. We believe that the Department of Health and Human Services should immediately use its emergency authority to remove in-person requirements from Medicare DPP services for the remainder of the COVID-19 PHE. We then strongly recommend that data from this expansion be leveraged to evaluate the merits of expanding virtual MDPP services permanently. As you know, better management of prediabetes has significant potential to both help beneficiaries and prevent unnecessary future expenditures for the Medicare program.
The letter can be viewed here.
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The Rural Behavioral Health Access Act Introduction
View the legislation announcement on the National Rural Health Association website. A recording of the announcement event is above — featuring:
- U.S. Representative Dan Kildee (D-MI)
- U.S. Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
- Nancy-Ann DeParle, Former Deputy Chief of Staff, the White House
- Brock Slabach, Senior Vice President, National Rural Health Association
- Rose Goick Saddler RN, MSN, Administrator, Ascension Standish Hospital
- Alan Bird, Chief Executive Officer, Adams County Regional Medical Center
The Alliance for Connected Care is pleased to join the National Rural Health Association in applauding this important legislation which shines a light on the need for critical access hospitals to be able to flexibly provide telehealth services to their patients. The Rural Behavioral Health Access Act should be included alongside other important telehealth changes Congress must pass before the end of the public health emergency.” – Krista Drobac, Executive Director, Alliance for Connected Care
Alliance Letter of Support for Texas SB 992
The Alliance submitted a letter of support to Senator Kelly Hancock, Chair of the Texas Senate Committee on Business & Commerce, for Senate Bill 992.
The bill would allow health professionals located outside of the state of Texas to provide telehealth services to patients residing within the state of Texas so long as they are licensed and authorized to provide the service in the state in which they are licensed. The bill would maintain that the standard of care for such services would be the same as for health professionals providing in-person health care services to a patient, and would allow for the establishment of a provider-patient relationship via a telehealth visit.
Read the full letter here and below:
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Alliance Letter of Support for Illinois HB 580
The Alliance submitted a letter of support to Marcus Evans, Jr., the Chair of the Illinois House Labor and Commerce Committee, for House Bill 580.
The bill would amend the Nurse Practice Act to approve the Nurse Licensure Compact, which allows for issuance of multistate licenses that allow nurses to practice in their home state and other compact states. The bill is critical because it allows for mutual recognition of state licenses between states participating in the compact.
One of the biggest barriers to telehealth becoming a regular patient and provider choice is the administrative burden caused by variation in licensure requirements from state to state. Alleviating such administrative burdens through establishing multistate compacts that have reciprocity and do not require additional licensing will help improve patient access to quality health care.
Read the full letter here and below:
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Alliance Letter of Support for Illinois HB 366
The Alliance submitted a letter of support to Theresa Mah, the Chair of the Illinois House Health Care Licenses Committee, for House Bill 366.
The bill would require the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to issue or deny a license no later than 30 days after completion of the application for practical nurse and registered professional nurse licensure. The Alliance believes that quickly approving licensure applications will help ensure eligible nurses are working, and will ultimately improve access to health care.
Read the full letter here and below:
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Alliance Written Testimony – New York FY2022 Executive Budget
The Alliance submitted written testimony for the New York State FY2022 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Health, which took place on February 25, 2021.
The Alliance applauds the telehealth-related proposals included in the Governor’s Executive Budget for the State Fiscal Year 2022, and was particularly thrilled to see specific provisions around the creation of an interstate licensure program to authorize out-of-state practitioners licensed in contiguous states or states in the Northeast region to provide telehealth services to patients in New York.
“While we support and appreciate efforts by the State to acknowledge the importance of interstate licensure capabilities and to implement a program to enable such practice, we believe the language as it currently exists is limited in scope both from a geographic standpoint and in the categories of health care services and provider types that can engage in interstate telehealth practice. This, and other aspects of the current legislation being considered, could add an additional burden to New York-based providers and the patients they serve.”
The Alliance offered comments on how to strengthen this provision to ensure patients can access necessary care from providers of their choice and to support New York-based providers in their effort to deliver care across state lines. The Alliance also offered the Medical Excellence Zone as an alternative to the policy as it stands. Key provisions and additional details on the MEZ can be viewed here.
Read our full testimony here and below:
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Alliance Letter of Support for Alaska SB 67
The Alliance submitted a letter of support to David Wilson, Chair of the Alaska Senate Health and Social Services Committee, for Senate Bill 67.
The bill would allow Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses from 34 states to practice in Alaska as part of a Multistate Nurse Licensure Compact. These registered and practical nurses would not be subject to the burdensome licensing process. The bill would also allow nurses in Alaska to practice in those 34 participating states. Opening up Alaska to licensed nurses will help provide needed access to care across the state.
Read the full letter here and below:
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Alliance Statement for the Record to House Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing on Telehealth
ALLIANCE FOR CONNECTED CARE STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
“The Future of Telehealth: How COVID-19 is Changing the Delivery of Virtual Care”
The Alliance submitted a letter to the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health on the ““The Future of Telehealth: How COVID-19 is Changing the Delivery of Virtual Care.”
The Alliance provided 1) overarching comments about telehealth research and evidence, 2) recommendations for telehealth expansions that Congress should consider and 3) recommendations for telehealth “guardrail” provisions that Congress could consider.
Top Telehealth Priorities
These priorities were also outlined in the July 2020 group letter to Congress with 340 endorsing organizations. The following four items should be the core of any serious telehealth expansion.
- Removal all geographic and originating site restrictions on telehealth in Medicare. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need for telehealth in rural areas, in urban areas, at work, at school, at home and many other locations. These provisions are obsolete and outdated and should be removed from statute entirely. The location of the patient should not matter for telehealth.
- Remove distant site provider list restrictions to allow all Medicare providers who deliver telehealth-appropriate services to provide those services to beneficiaries through telehealth when clinically appropriate and covered by Medicare – including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, and others.
- Ensure Federally Qualified Health Centers, Critical Access Hospitals, and Rural Health Clinics can furnish telehealth in Medicare and be reimbursed fairly for those services, despite unique payment characteristics and challenges for each. Please note that critical access hospitals are sometimes omitted from this list, but are a crucial component of a healthcare system able to reach all Medicare beneficiaries and must be able to directly bill for telehealth services.
- Make permanent the Health and Human Services (HHS) emergency waiver authority for virtual care so that it can be quickly leveraged during future emergencies. Telehealth has maintained critical connections between patients and healthcare practitioners during the pandemic, and should be enabled for a future wildfire, flood, hurricane, or other emergency.
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Alliance Written Testimony in Maryland
The Alliance submitted written testimony offering the Medical Excellence Zone as an alternative to Maryland House Bill 732.
“We request that the Committee consider an alternative called the Medical Excellence Zone. The Medical Excellence Zone is an area defined by multiple state borders where medical practitioners may practice across state lines. Practitioners may not establish physical practices in states where they are not licensed but as long as they are licensed and in good standing with one state in the Zone, they may practice across state lines.” Key provisions and additional details on the MEZ can be viewed here.
Read our full testimony here and below:
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