
Telemedicine
Medicare reimbursement policies have not kept pace with doctor-patient encounters occurring outside of a traditional care setting. Legal and regulatory barriers affect the ability of providers to initiate or expand their telehealth services. Reimbursement must support providers’ use of the technology they deem best fit to achieve better patient outcomes. A national dialogue must take place concerning the patchwork of state laws and licensure barriers impeding the expansion of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring.
CHIME supports such legislative proposals as CONNECT for Health Act and the CHRONIC Care Act that seek to expand access to telehealth services for all patients, especially those in federal programs. CHIME continues to work with lawmakers to pursue policies that will be budget neutral or, at the very least, won’t raise significant concerns when scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). And, we continue to press the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand their reimbursement policies.
CHIME Top Recommendation to Policymakers
- Create a more flexible reimbursement policy around the use of telehealth such that Medicare pays providers for using it and supports patient care when and where they need it
CIO Cheat Sheets
- Overview of Medicare Telehealth Policies for 2019 (Updated Mar 2019)
- Guide to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Involvement in Health Care (Dec 2018)
- Guide to HRSA Regional Telehealth Resource Center (RTRC) Program (Oct 2018)
- Guide to the VA Telehealth Rule (Jul 2018)
- Overview of Medicare Telehealth Policies for 2019 (Mar 2019 – Updated Mar 19th)
Letters to the Administration
- CHIME & AEHIT letter to FCC on Connected Care Pilot (Sept 2019)
- Multi-stakeholder letter to CMS on Specialty Care Models (Sept 2019)
- Multi-stakeholder letter to FCC on Connected Care Pilot (Sept 2019)
- CHIME & AEHIT send letter of support to FCC on Connected Care Pilot (July 2019)
- Signon letter to CMS on Medicare managed care and telehealth polices (Dec 2018)
- CHIME and AEHIT Comment Letter to the FCC on the Connected Care Pilot Program (Sep 2018)
- Sign-on letter to CMS Administrator Verma on expansion of telehealth reimbursement (Jun 2018)
- CHIME comment letter to FCC on leveraging telehealth under the RHC program (Feb 2018)
- CHIME comment letter to the VA on telehealth expansion (Oct 2017)
- CHIME Comment letter to CMS on the Proposed Physician Fee Schedule rule for 2018 (Sep 2017)
- Stakeholder Letter to CMS responding to Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule on telehealth (Sep 2017)
- CHIME Joins 24 Organizations in Sending a Letter to CMS on the Physician Fee Schedule Rule (Sep 2016)
- CHIME Signs Onto Multi-stakeholder Letters on MIPS and APMs Promoting Telehealth (Jun 2016)
Congressional Letters & Testimony
- CHIME Response to Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force Request for Information (November 2019)
- Industry Stakeholder Letter Concerning Mental Health Telemedicine Expansion Act (HR 1301) (June 2019)
- CHIME Response to Telehealth Caucus Request for Information on Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring Legislative Proposals (April 2019)
- CHIME Statement for the Record of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Hearing on, “Winning the Race to 5G and the Next Era of Technology Innovation in the United States” (February 2019)
- Sign-on letter to the Senate Finance Committee on the Expanding Telehealth Response to Ensure Addiction Treatment Act (eTREAT) (May 2018) (May 2018)
- CHIME & AEHIT Letter of Support for the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act (Dec 2017)
- CHIME Comment Letter on Proposed Year 2 of the QPP Program (Aug 2017)
- CHIME & AEHIT Statement for the Record of the Senate Finance Hearing on, ‘Examining Bipartisan Medicare Policies that Improve Care for Patients with Chronic Conditions’ (May 2017)
- CHIME & AEHIT Letter of Support for the CONNECT for Health Act (May 2017)
- CHIME Statement for the Record – Ways & Means Committee Hearing on Exploring the Use of Technology & Innovation to Create Efficiencies & Higher Quality in Health Care (Sep 2016)
- CHIME Response to Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group Policy Options Document (Jan 2016)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Fact sheet on telehealth services reimbursed by Medicare in 2017
- CMS webpage on telehealth
- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) Report to Congress, June 2016 (see Chapter 8)