Today, the House Energy and Commerce committee will decide whether to move forward a two-year telehealth extension bill before the pandemic-era Medicare telehealth flexibilities expire at the end of the year.
An amendment filed by the majority on Tuesday tacks on a laundry list of provisions since the Telehealth Modernization Act was last discussed in May. The bill has been expanded to include other E&C healthcare priorities and to fund expiring programs.
The bill still uses pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform as a pay-for, with one addition by the majority.
Fierce Healthcare spoke with the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Georgia, and his staff about the changes to the bill since the E&C health subcommittee’s May vote and the bill’s prospects of moving through the House and Senate by the end of the year.
Carter was optimistic that the bill would successfully pass out of the committee during Wednesday’s vote. He said that both Republicans and Democrats on the committee support a two-year telehealth extension and that the issue has “broad bipartisan support.”
Carter said he has talked to the House Ways & Means Committee to reconcile the two versions of a two-year telehealth extension. Carter’s staff said the discussions are ongoing.
“Yeah, we've had some discussions with them that we want to make sure that it's fully offset using the PBM reform,” the Congressman said. “And, you know, we want to make sure there's payment parity for the FQHCs and the rural health clinics and and we want to make sure, again, as I stated earlier, that these flexibilities be made permanent down the road.”
Carter postulated that the Senate would work on the telehealth extension in the lame duck session and that the extension might be attached as a rider to another piece of legislation.
When asked if the telehealth bill is becoming a vehicle for other E&C health priorities, Carter responded affirmatively.
“I suspect that could be the case,” Carter said. “We're trying to limit it as best we can, but we don't want to lose focus of what our goal is, and that is to get the two-year extension.”
The two-year telehealth extension bill now includes part of a bill that allows virtual-only Diabetes Prevention Programs to be paid for by Medicare. The lack of Medicare reimbursement for online DPP has been a source of consternation for the industry.
The amended bill modifies how federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics are paid for non-mental health telehealth visits to bring the payments up to parity.
The amended bill also adds Rep. Michelle Steel’s, D-California, SPEAK Act which requires guidance for serving patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) via telehealth. Steel serves on the Ways and Means health subcommittee, and her bill was included in W&M’s two-year telehealth extension.
It adds Rep. John James’ Telemental Health Act and adds a version of Rep. John Joyce’s, R-Pennsylvania, Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act. It also adds a five-year version of the Prevent Diabetes Act, sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette's, D-Colorado, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida. The bill also directs the Secretary of HHS to provide guidance on how to screen patients with medication-induced movement disorders.
The amended bill includes $9 million for a five-year extension of the Families to Families program. It adds $18.5 million in short-term Medicaid funding for the Northern Mariana Islands.
The only change to the bill’s offsets is for each Hospital Off Campus Outpatient Department to have its own unique provider identifier number (NPI).
“I'm excited and looking forward to tomorrow,” Carter said on Tuesday. “Hopefully we can close a deal on this.”