The bipartisan Telehealth Expansion Act, making specific COVID-19-era telehealth provisions permanent, would cost $5 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, The Hill reported June 27.
The proposed legislation would give people with high-deductible health insurance plans permanent access to telehealth services without meeting a minimum deductible. As part of the most recent end-of-year omnibus bill, the policy was extended until the end of 2024.
Telehealth lobbying group Alliance for Connected Care, said that the measures would impact more than 32 million Americans.
Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Catherine Cortez Mastro, D-Nevada, are leading the charge to make the telehealth expansions permanent.