On March 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, extending the temporary virtual care flexibilities that were put in place during the public health emergency of COVID-19.
Among other things, the bill will allow hospices to perform face-to-face recertification visits through telehealth for an additional five months, according to Home Healthcare News.
“We are very pleased to see the extension of the telehealth waivers in the bill, as they have proven extremely valuable during the pandemic,” William Dombi, president of National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), told Home Health Care News. “Our hope is to see these become permanent parts of Medicare in the future. Also, we anticipate further legislative opportunities this year to deal with sequestration, as well as our Choose Home bill, among other crucial matters.”
The legislation makes no explicit mention of home telehealth reimbursement.
Legislators previously introduced Senate Bill 1309, dubbed the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act. Under the HEAT act, telehealth services would be an eligible alternative to in-person home health services and would qualify for Medicare reimbursement in the event of a public health emergency.
Telehealth use has increased by more than 38 times since pre-pandemic baselines, according to Home Health Care News.
