Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik today voted to pass the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act (H.R. 4040) to extend critical telehealth policies and ease the burden for seniors, especially in rural areas, to access healthcare.
“Families in Upstate New York and the North Country, especially our seniors, rely on telehealth services to keep in touch with their healthcare providers,” Stefanik said. “I am proud to advance bipartisan legislation to extend critical services that our seniors and rural communities rely on, so they can continue to receive healthcare regardless of distance or medical conditions that make in-person visits challenging.”
This bill extends the following telehealth flexibilities in Medicare:
- Removes geographic requirements and expands originating sites for telehealth services so Medicare beneficiaries can receive telehealth services at any site, regardless of type or location,
- Allows additional types of practitioners to furnish telehealth services,
- Allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the location of the health care practitioner for purposes of providing telehealth services,
- Delays the in-person requirement under Medicare for mental health services furnished through telehealth,
- Allows audio-only evaluation and management and behavioral health services, and
- Allows the use of telehealth to conduct the face-to-face encounter prior to recertification of eligibility for hospice care.
