Here's a step toward the future

Bipartisan bill seeks to remove roadblocks to telemedicine under Medicare

“Telehealth is the future of health care. It expands access to care, lowers costs, and helps more people stay healthy,” Senator Brian Schatz said in a statement. “Our bipartisan bill will help change the way patients get the care they need, improving the health care system for both patients and health care providers.”

The CONNECT Act has five main goals as a means to taking down barriers to Medicare-covered telemedicine. As it currently stands, there are several provisions of the Social Security Act that are holding back Medicare reimbursement for telehealth, including restrictions on originating sites, limitations in store and forward technology, and only allowing for telemedicine to be used in certain rural areas. The bill aims to take those roadblocks down by expanding remote patient monitoring programs for people with chronic conditions; defining reimbursable CMS telehealth codes; expanding remote monitoring programs at community health centers and rural clinics, giving HHS the authority to lift restrictions on telehealth; and establishing new allowances for global and bundled payment models.

“The CONNECT for Health Act provides a carefully-crafted approach to begin helping countless American Medicare recipients realize the benefits of connected health technology,” Morgan Reed, executive director of the App Association’s Connected Health Initiative, said in a statement. “By lifting arduous limitations on the use of telehealth and empowering Medicare physicians to utilize innovative remote monitoring technologies, responsible and secure connected health solutions may be introduced more broadly throughout the continuum of care to improve patient health outcomes.”

Article