House-passed bill would extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities

The House voted this week to pass the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act (H.R.4040), legislation that would continue Medicare patient access to telehealth services, including audio-only services, through 2024 after the COVID-19 public health emergency. AHA and AONL support efforts to make permanent Medicare telehealth flexibilities allowed during the public health emergency, and the AHA voiced its support this month in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee. AHA is a member of Telehealth Access for America, a public education campaign committed to protecting access to telehealth services. “We encourage lawmakers in both chambers to work together in a spirit of bipartisan collaboration to pass solutions into law that will ensure access to virtual care is safeguarded for the millions of patients who have come to rely on telehealth during the pandemic,” said TAFA spokesperson Julia Mirich. (AHA News article, 7/28/22)