Telehealth expansions adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic got a strong vote of approval to be made permanent after the leader of the Health and Human Services Department expressed his “absolute support” for keeping the flexibilities beyond the public health crisis.
“We are absolutely supportive of efforts to give us the authority to be able to utilize telehealth in greater ways,” HHS Secretary Xavier Beccerra said late last week during an online digital health conversation with the Washington Post.
“When the services are used, we want to make sure that Americans are getting a valuable service. We want to make sure that these providers are providing a service that might not have been available had we not had telehealth but that it also results in better quality services and treatment, because we don’t want to be billed for things that don’t result in better health for Americans,” he added.
Telehealth flexibilities, first announced in March 2020, have been critical to reducing obstacles to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The waivers allowed healthcare providers to be paid for a wider range of telehealth services for beneficiaries, and allowed nursing home beneficiaries to receive telehealth services.
New Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has previously expressed her support for permanently adopting telehealth coverage waivers issued during COVID-19.
Trump administration officials in August also proposed permanently expanding some telehealth coverage, but they noted federal lawmakers may have to pass legislation to do so.
Becerra added, “When we talk about this new type of healthcare, it could be visual or could be audio.”
“There are circumstances under which you don’t need to have a smartphone. A phone, any kind of phone, might be enough. We just want to make sure that we’re taking advantage of all the technology that lets us communicate with each other to make sure that we’re also providing healthcare where possible,” he said.
