As we previously covered, in March 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced a proposed rule on prescribing controlled substances via telehealth, aimed at addressing the “telehealth cliff” that was expected to occur...more
With just over two months before the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) expected expiration on May 11, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has finally announced its proposed rule on prescribing controlled substances...more
3/6/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), which was originally declared nearly three years ago, has been renewed through April 2023. As we’ve previously covered, the PHE allowed federal and state regulators to relax certain...more
1/12/2023
/ American Hospital Association ,
American Telemedicine Association ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Hospice ,
Medicare Beneficiaries ,
Mental Health ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Ryan Haight Act ,
Telehealth
As we covered in a prior Telehealth Update, many of the flexibilities upon which telehealth providers have come to rely in recent years are tied to the federal Public Health Emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic (the...more
9/2/2022
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth ,
Waivers
As we’ve previously covered, while Congress has acted to extend certain COVID-era telehealth flexibilities (mostly related to Medicare coverage) beyond the Public Health Emergency (PHE), the future of prescribing controlled...more
Last week saw a lot of great news in the world of telehealth. On March 15, President Biden signed into law H.R. 2471, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022”, which extends many of the Medicare telehealth flexibilities...more
3/23/2022
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
FQHC ,
Joe Biden ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
OIG ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth
On Monday, February 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Todd Young, R-Indiana, introduced the Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act, which if passed, would extend several of the telehealth waivers...more
2/11/2022
/ Controlled Substances Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Patients ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Secretary of HHS ,
Telehealth
Last week, CMS announced its final Physician Fee Schedule Payment Policies (the “Final Rule”), which will become effective January 1, 2022. The Final Rule included several updates to Medicare coverage of telehealth services,...more
As previously covered, over the past year the telehealth landscape has been a patchwork of temporary waivers and regulations, expanding access during the COVID-19 pandemic but leaving providers and patients uncertain about...more
As we’ve discussed in previous posts, since the beginning of the pandemic, telehealth providers have seen a dramatic increase in demand for their services along with a number of temporary regulatory measures aimed at...more
On August 4, CMS posted a proposed rule on CY 2021 Payment Policies, which included important updates about the expansion of Medicare covered telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows on the heels of...more
8/6/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Relief Measures ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Waivers
Last Thursday, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine (BORIM) approved its first permanent telehealth policy. The Board’s policy provides that: (1) a “face-to-face encounter" is not a pre-requisite for a...more
Earlier this month, we wrote about what the future of telehealth might look like in a post-COVID-19 world. In that post, we referenced comments made by CMS Administrator Seema Verma, in which she voiced her support for...more
During a live virtual event yesterday with STAT News, CMS Administrator Seema Verma expressed support for permanently expanding access to telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency resolves. As we...more
6/11/2020
/ 1135 Waivers ,
CARES Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Governor Baker ,
Health Care Providers ,
IRS ,
Professional License ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional waivers of limitations on Medicare reimbursement of telehealth services and updated its summary of COVID-19 blanket waivers. We’ve...more
As we’ve previously discussed on the blog, telehealth is playing a critical role in delivering care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Congress and states continue to take action to expand the use and reimbursement of...more
On Monday, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ajit Pai, circulated a plan to his fellow Commissioners detailing how the $200 million the agency will receive via the CARES Act should be deployed for a...more
4/1/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Emergency Response ,
FCC ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSP) ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Waivers
Telehealth is going to play a critical role in the delivery of care in the coming weeks and months as health care providers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the CDC and other public health agencies continue to recommend...more
Some very good news for the telehealth community can be found amidst the more than 1,400 pages of the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2019 (“Proposed Rule”) issued by CMS yesterday. Finally, CMS acknowledges just...more
As the year winds down, we look back on the significant developments in telemedicine in 2015 as well as look forward to what 2016 will bring. The number of providers offering telemedicine and telehealth services dramatically...more
This is the fourth and final post in our series on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Pub.L. No. 114-10. We’ve previously covered the repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) in our April 20th post,...more
4/27/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
EHR ,
Electronic Health Record Incentives ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
GAO ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
HITECH Act ,
Meaningful Use ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
Medicare Part B ,
PQRS ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
On March 19th, Representative Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) unveiled a bipartisan plan to repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment...more
Last week, the Florida Senate Health Policy Committee removed language from proposed telehealth legislation that would require Medicaid reimbursement for telemedicine services at the same rates as face-to-face examinations....more
In opening remarks at the Health Information Technology hearing series last week, Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, indicated that she intends to introduce legislation that...more