A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019.  A summary produced by that bipartisan group is attached.

If enacted, the CONNECT for Health Act solutions would be as follows:

• Create a bridge program to help providers transition to the goals of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) through using telehealth and RPM without most of the aforementioned Social Security Act Section 1834(m) restrictions;
• Allow telehealth and RPM to be used by qualifying participants in alternative payment models, without most of the aforementioned 1834(m) restrictions;
• Permit the use of remote patient monitoring for certain patients with chronic conditions;
• Allow, as originating sites, telestroke evaluation and management sites; Native American health service facilities; and dialysis facilities for home dialysis patients in certain cases;
• Permit further telehealth and RPM in community health centers and rural health clinics;
• Allow telehealth and RPM to be basic benefits in Medicare Advantage, without most of the aforementioned 1834(m) restrictions; and
• Clarify that the provision of telehealth or RPM technologies made under Medicare by a health care provider for the purpose of furnishing these services shall not be considered “remuneration.”

Click here to read the CONNECT for Health Act.