Washington Lawmakers Push To Expand Medicare Coverage Of Telehealth Services In The State

Washington Lawmakers Push To Expand Medicare Coverage Of Telehealth Services In The State

Join For Personal Benefits News

Lawmakers Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are cosponsoring the law to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services in Washington.

Washington Lawmakers Push To Expand Medicare Coverage Of Telehealth Services In The State
Washington Lawmakers Push To Expand Medicare Coverage Of Telehealth Services In The State (Photo: Modern Healthcare)

 

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.

Read Also: NYC Retired City Workers Are Upset With Downgraded Healthcare Plan Under Medicare

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.

Read Also: House Conservatives US Federal Budget Plan Focuses On Social Security And Medicare Changes


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *