Lawmakers Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are cosponsoring the law to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services in Washington.
The lawmakers introduced legislation that will ensure residents continue to have access to the affordable healthcare
Lawmakers Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are cosponsoring the law to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services in Virginia, Washington. The government dictates how Medicare covers telemedicine, whereas Medicaid and private plans insurance fall within the purview of the states.
The lawmakers aim to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services by Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act. The lawmakers introduced this act in 2016, and not yet been passed.
Before the CONNECT Act, Medicare covered certain telehealth services to patients in specific, defined areas and those where it was more challenging to access medical services.
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Many Americans, particularly in rural communities, rely on telehealth services
If the proposed bill by the lawmakers passed, Medicare patients could use telehealth from anywhere, not only in rural areas.
The new bill proposed by the lawmakers would open telehealth as a resource to the healthcare community. Face-to-face visits would no longer be needed for mental telehealth services.
One of the lessons we learned from the pandemic is that our healthcare system is more flexible than we expected, said lawmakers.