Lawmakers introduced a bill again that plans to extend Medicare coverage for home health services given by telehealth during a public health emergency.
S.1309 was introduced by US Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) on April 22. It echoes the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act submitted in 2020 by Cardin and Collins. But it failed to make its way through the Senate.
What is the bill attempting to do?
The latest form of the bill will give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services the authority to issue waivers for home healthcare services that get delivered by telehealth in order to replace in-person visits while the country faces a public health emergency.
Thus, home healthcare providers will be able to improve access to care and reach out to more patients who are in need. This will reduce exposure to the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic.
As per the last year’s bill, it would render telehealth coverage during the public health emergency for home health services through visual or audio telecommunication systems. The usage of telehealth should be deemed appropriate, must be approved by the beneficiary before its use. It will be reimbursed only when the telehealth visits don’t add up to more than half of all billable visits during the 30-day payment period.
The bill is strongly supported by those in the home healthcare community who have always supported the access to and coverage of connected health tools and platforms even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact of the bill:
William Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) said that the COVID-19 pandemic has proved the value of telehealth as a tool in fulfilling the clinical needs of home health patients. But due to the absence of any reimbursement for telehealth, home health agencies haven’t got the ability to utilize it fully.
As of now, CMS doesn’t recognize the home health care provider as a telehealth provider. But it allows primary care providers to prescribe telehealth service at home and it manages the services extended by home health companies. So, doctors and other practitioners can bill for telehealth services and prescribe, but home health care providers cannot.
Also, telehealth visit doesn’t count a home health care providers’ low utilization payment adjustment (LUPA) threshold. This sets a limit to the minimum number of in-person visits a care provider should complete.
Lifecycle Health is a simple and easy to use telehealth platform that can help healthcare providers and home health care providers to communicate with patients.
It helps to set virtual telehealth practice to make the most of the new telehealth bill. Lifecycle Health helps home healthcare providers and companies to extend valuable clinical care to home health patients.