Telehealth Medicare Restrictions Relaxed Due to Coronavirus

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6074) was signed into law on March 6, 2020. It is a bipartisan bill that includes, among other provisions, waivers to certain telehealth requirements to allow Medicare patients to receive telehealth services at home.

The law earmarks $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and allows the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to temporarily waive Medicare restrictions regarding telehealth services during the coronavirus public health emergency.

The legislation temporarily waives Medicare rules for telehealth services so that more patients can receive in-home attention without encountering significant out-of-pocket expenses. The Act grants powers to HHS to waive telehealth limitations in order to expand the availability of telemedicine to seniors.

CMS has released a fact sheet on the Medicare Telehealth payment which can be accessed here.

Private payers may have their own guidelines or they may follow the guidelines set forth by Medicare.

SEE ALSO: LUGPA's Telemedicine Webinar - "Tap into Telehealth: Expand Your Practice Capacity Today" Recorded March 26, 2020