On Monday, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced bipartisan legislation to extend Medicare enrollees’ access to telehealth services no matter where they reside.
Young
“The telehealth flexibilities put in place by Congress during the early days of the COVID pandemic played a critical role in allowing the most vulnerable Hoosiers to access care safely,” Sen. Young said. “As Congress evaluates which changes to make permanent, many of these flexibilities are set to expire. We should act now to ensure seniors continue to benefit from these important remote health care services.”
The Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act would allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to extend Medicare payments for a broad range of telehealth services, including for substance abuse treatment, for an additional two years. The bill would also commission a study on the impact of the pandemic telehealth flexibilities extended in this bill to better inform Congress’ work to make telehealth flexibilities permanent.
Sen. Young has worked to expand telehealth services throughout the pandemic. He introduced legislation to improve health care for expectant mothers, and legislation to support mental health and addiction services.