House panel advances bill to extend Medicare’s telehealth flexibilities, setting up December talks

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Time：2024-09-18 21:09

By Mario Aguilar and Rachel Cohrs Zhang

Sept. 18, 2024

A House committee on Wednesday advanced legislation that would extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities and a home hospital program adopted during the pandemic, the final step before the bills face a vote by the full House of Representatives.

Congress in 2022 extended pandemic-era flexibilities about where and what kinds of care Medicare enrollees could receive over telehealth. The two-year telehealth extension unanimously passed on Wednesday by the House Energy & Commerce Committee is very similar to bills advanced in May by Commerce’s health subcommittee and the House Ways & Means Committee.

The two bills set up the House position heading into negotiations with the Senate on extending the telehealth policies, which expire at the end of December.

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Mario Aguilar
Health Tech Correspondent
Mario Aguilar covers technology in health care, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, wearable devices, telehealth, and digital therapeutics. His stories explore how tech is changing the practice of health care and the business and policy challenges to realizing tech’s promise. He’s also the co-author of the free, twice weekly STAT Health Tech newsletter.
Rachel Cohrs Zhang
Chief Washington Correspondent
Rachel Cohrs Zhang reports on the intersection of health policy and business in Washington. She covers Capitol Hill, lobbying, and federal agencies. Her primary areas of focus are the pharmaceutical and hospital industries. She is also the co-author of the free, twice-weekly D.C. Diagnosis newsletter.