Posted Sunday, April 25, 2021
On Thursday, April 22nd a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act to reimburse providers for telehealth services in the Medicare Home Health Benefit.
“The new legislation calls for permitting CMS the authority to issue a waiver that would allow for telehealth visits to count towards in-person visits as included on the plan of care in the event of a public health emergency (PHE). During the drafting, concerns were raised of the need for patient protections to ensure for protection against fraudulent and improper behavior. To assuage these concerns, guardrails were added that would require for patient consent for telehealth services, as well as a requirement that telehealth visits can comprise of no more than half of all visits. The bill will also require a pre-existing relationship between the patient and ordering physician for the patient to be eligible to receive reimbursable telehealth services.”
Source: NAHC Report
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