Connected Care Update – August 16 2024
Alliance Comments on the 21st Century Cures Initiative
The Alliance for Connected Care provided input into refining the goals of the 21st Century Cures initiative. The Alliance has a strong interest and member expertise in the way digital health technologies can support and expand access to care while improving patient engagement and quality. After four years of experiencing the benefits of expanded telehealth [...]
Telehealth Stakeholder Letter to Congressional Leadership
The Alliance for Connected Care joined a telehealth stakeholder letter to congressional leadership, urging swift action on legislation that would extend current Medicare telehealth flexibilities.
Alliance Wins in the Proposed Medicare Fee Schedule
Alliance Wins in the Proposed Medicare Fee Schedule July 11, 2024 While CMS does not currently have statutory authority to waive geographic and originating site restrictions for telehealth, it has proposed a number of important steps to preserve access to telehealth in the CY2025 Physician Fee Schedule. Extension of provider location reporting flexibility: Proposed continuation [...]
Alliance Leads Letter to Congressional Appropriators to Support Telehealth Resource Centers FY 2025
The Alliance for Connected Care led a letter asking Congressional Appropriators to include a $14 million request for the Telehealth Resource Centers (TRC) program at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in FY2025 appropriations.This increase in funding would provide a critical boost to the TRCs, which saw an 800% increase in demand for telehealth [...]
Alliance Requests CMS to Consider Administrative Burden on Telehealth Practitioners
The Alliance for Connected Care sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding ongoing decisions by CMS that will dramatically increase administrative burden for both practitioners offering telehealth services and CMS itself through the requirements for the reporting of multiple addresses for a clinician offering telehealth. CMS currently allows [...]
Letter on House E&C Temporary Two-Year Extension
On behalf of the Alliance for Connected Care and the many patients and clinicians we represent, we write to support the Committee’s leadership in working to avert a pending telehealth cliff for Medicare beneficiaries and support bipartisan passage of the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 (H.R.7623). The Alliance for Connected Care sent a letter to [...]
Finally – Action on Prescribing Through Telehealth
Last week, we finally saw a proposed rule – “Telemedicine Prescribing of Controlled Substances When the Practitioner and the Patient Have not had a Prior In-Person Medical Evaluation” arrive at OMB. We expect that this proposed rule will avert the current end of telehealth prescribing flexibility on December 31, 2024. However, there remains significant risk [...]
Mental Health Groups Sent Letter on Schedule IIN Non-Narcotic Prescribing
Mental Health Groups Sent Letter on Schedule IIN Non-Narcotic Prescribing Mental health groups are pushing the agency to allow Schedule IIN non-narcotic drugs to be prescribed without an in-person visit. Those include stimulants used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A coalition of mental health groups, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics [...]
Health Affairs: We Need National Policies For Voice-Based Telepsychiatry
Health Affairs: We Need National Policies For Voice-Based Telepsychiatry As of April 2024, no federal legislation or guidance has been implemented to establish permanence for telepsychiatry, and specifically for voice-based visits. With all telehealth flexibilities expiring at the end of 2024, in this piece, authors advocate for the permanent adoption and coverage of VBT, [...]