House Energy And Commerce Advances Health Legislative Proposals, Including Telehealth Extension

This overview is excerpted from Manatt on Health, Manatt’s subscription service that provides in-depth insights and analysis focused on the legal, policy and market developments. 

On May 16, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a markup of 23 bills. The subcommittee voted on legislation to extend several pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities in the Medicare program. Specifically, E&C unanimously advanced an amended version of the bipartisan Telehealth Modernization Act (H.R. 7623) that extends for two years these Medicare flexibilities: permitting any site in the U.S., including a patient’s home, to be an eligible originating site for the delivery of telehealth services; allowing federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as originating or distant sites for the delivery of telehealth services; permitting the use of audio-only telehealth for some services; and continuing to include qualified occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language therapists, and audiologists as eligible telehealth practitioners. This two year extension mirrors legislation advanced earlier by the House Ways and Means Committee with key differences.

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