Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente is urging Congress to act to extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities before they expire at the end of 2024.
During the pandemic, the federal government eased restrictions on telehealth coverage for traditional Medicare beneficiaries, allowing video visits, virtual care for people outside of rural areas, and additional types of clinicians to provide the service. However, those enhancements will go away Dec. 31 unless lawmakers pass one of the extension bills that have passed congressional committees.
"Extending these flexibilities is essential," Keavney Klein, senior counsel for government relations at Kaiser Permanente, wrote in a Nov. 11 article. "All Medicare patients deserve more options, more convenience, and more equitable care — not less."
Telehealth critics worry that expanded virtual care could lead to more healthcare utilization and higher costs. But Kaiser Permanente has found that virtual visits can actually substitute for in-person appointments, and that return visits and emergency department stops after telehealth are both rare, Ms. Klein wrote.