HHS will work 'aggressively' to make telehealth flexibilities permanent

Congress recently extended telehealth flexibilities nationwide until the end of 2022, and now some federal agencies are planning for what comes next.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters at a March 18 press conference that his department would work to preserve providers' ability to offer telehealth services.

"There is no doubt that telehealth saved lives, and we would be really closing our eyes to a new form of quality healthcare if we did not expand authorities for telehealth to be available to Americans," Becerra said. "We're going to work as aggressively as we can to get as much authority as possible so that the providers of that telehealth have an opportunity to save lives."

Becerra says he's in favor of giving more authority to providers over what medications and treatments they can offer digitally.

HHS is also studying the potential consequences and implementation of permanent telehealth services under public health plans.

On March 10, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package that included an extension for the following telehealth services:

  • Medicare-enrolled providers can bill for telehealth services.
  • Medicare can cover telehealth visit costs for adults 65 and older.
  • Medicare can cover telehealth visits that occur within a patient's home and in healthcare facilities.
  • Employers can offer telehealth coverage to employees with health savings accounts before they meet an annual deductible

Telehealth flexibilities were first implemented by Congress in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, surveys show that only 3 percent of physicians have yet to embrace telehealth, and 93 percent expect to continue using the service after the pandemic.

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