WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 16, 2024 – ATA Action, the American Telemedicine Association’s affiliated trade association focused on advocacy, applauds the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health following today’s markup, unanimously advancing a two-year extension of many of the telehealth flexibilities and included a five-year extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program before the expiration of many COVID-era telehealth flexibilities on December 31.
“ATA Action and the ATA appreciate the subcommittee’s consistent, bipartisan support of telehealth, putting important points on the board as we approach half-time of our Telehealth Super Bowl,” said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president, public policy, the ATA and executive director, ATA Action. “We are grateful for the Health subcommittee’s tenacity to act on telehealth earlier this year rather than later, to provide certainty for patients and clinicians across the country and allow the U.S. healthcare system enough time to implement appropriate virtual tools, technologies, programs, and processes moving forward.
“This is an important step forward in our pursuit of appropriate and necessary policies to ensure permanent access to virtual care services, giving citizens access to often life-saving telehealth services, when and where they need it,” Zebley added. “ATA Action looks forward to continuing to work with the Committee to ensure that the appropriate telehealth policies are implemented in a timely manner without arbitrary and unnecessary barriers to care such as in-person, brick-and-mortar, or geographic requirements.”
The subcommittee also advanced legislation that would extend additional ATA priorities for two years, including virtual cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, expanding the Medicare diabetes prevention program to allow virtual participation, and lowering the remote monitoring 16-day data collection requirement to two days over a 30-day period.
About ATA Action
ATA Action recognizes that telehealth and virtual care have the potential to transform the healthcare delivery system by improving patient outcomes, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of care, addressing health disparities, and reducing costs. ATA Action is a registered 501c6 entity and an affiliated trade organization of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).
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