SE Kansas News

Washington, D.C. – On May 17, 2023, Congressman Jake LaTurner (R-KS) joined Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Marcus Molinaro (R-NY), Alex Mooney (R-WV), and Zach Nunn (R-IA) in introducing the Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act.

The Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act will expand access to health care and save patients time and money by making permanent Medicare coverage of telehealth services allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes would include allowing patients to be treated at home, allowing rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers to provide telehealth services, and expanding coverage of audio-only services for certain conditions, among other changes.

"Since the pandemic, telehealth has significantly expanded health care access for rural communities across Kansas," said Congressman LaTurner. "I am proud to help introduce the bipartisan Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act to ensure folks across our state can continue receiving essential health care services without the burden of long-distance travel."

Specifically, the Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act expands and makes permanent Medicare coverage of telehealth services by:

• Removing geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary), thus allowing patients to be treated from their homes.
• Prior to the pandemic, the home was allowed as an eligible originating site in Medicare and some Medicaid programs, but only for very specific services, and only for the patient, not the provider.
• Allowing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to directly bill for telehealth services.
• Allowing rural health clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to serve as distance sites for providing telehealth services.
• Expanding coverage to include audio-only services for evaluation and management and behavioral health services.

Original source can be found here.