One year on from the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Medicare restrictions on telehealth that Congress waived to allow for and expand the use of telehealth and other forms of virtual care are set to expire. Congress has already acted twice to extend the waivers, most recently in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which extended them until the end of this calendar year. Thus, starting on January 1, 2025, these waivers will disappear without further Congressional action. The uncertainty about whether Congress will again extend the telehealth waivers (and for how long) will create numerous questions and cause confusion for health plans, patients and providers.
May 11, 2024, marked one year since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), and not much has changed in Medicare telehealth policy. We are still operating under temporary waivers and flexibilities and, as a result, many pandemic-era virtual care policies are facing a cliff on December 31, 2024. This looms large during a contentious election year in which legislating has grown increasingly difficult.
This +Insight explores the virtual care policy landscape one year after the end of the PHE, and describes the actions Congress and federal agencies must take for such pandemic-era policies to continue.
Congressional lawmakers must soon decide to continue or end payment changes for telehealth services enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to this KFF Health News article, Congress will likely “kick the can” past the November election.
What does December 31, 2024, mean to you? New Year’s Eve? Post-2024 election? Too far away to know?
Our answer: December 31, 2024, is when we will go over a “telehealth cliff” if Congress fails to act before that date, directly impacting care and access for Medicare beneficiaries. What is this telehealth cliff?
Multiple states – including Alaska, Wisconsin and New Jersey – have been busy finalizing legislation and rulemaking to adopt interstate compacts and amend and clarify telehealth-related standards of care.
What else have these states been up to over the last month?
Numerous states—including Alaska, Florida, Texas, Utah and Washington—have been busy finalizing and proposing rulemaking and legislation impacting telehealth-related care. Washington’s Department of Health, for example, published a proposed rule focused on implementing the multistate nurse licensure compact.
What else have these states been up to over the last month?
Numerous states—including Florida, Texas and Michigan—have been busy finalizing telehealth-related rulemaking and legislation. Michigan’s proposed bills, for example, push for coverage parity across insurers and payment parity.
What else have these states been up to over the last month?
As more telehealth providers offer weight-loss programs, they should be aware of the potential impact of state laws and regulations. In this blog post, we examine how Florida’s consumer protection laws affect these programs.
Numerous states—including Alaska, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon—have been busy finalizing rulemaking and legislation advancing hybrid healthcare models, modernizing licensure infrastructures and incentivizing telehealth. What have these states been up to over the last month?
Numerous states—including Louisiana, Ohio, California, Tennessee and New Jersey—have been finalizing rulemaking and legislation that create or amend professional practice standards to incorporate telehealth. Several of these states have also proposed regulations or laws related to the provision of care to youths.
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