Bill would expand telehealth access

The American Hospital Association this week expressed support for the CONNECT for Health Act (S. 2016/H.R. 4189). The bill, also supported by AONL, would increase patient access to telehealth services while removing barriers to adoption. The legislation would permanently remove geographic restrictions limiting where patients can access telehealth, add homes and other clinically appropriate originating sites, and permit rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers to serve as distant sites. It also would remove requirements for an in-person evaluation six months before initiating behavioral telehealth treatment and an in-person visit annually thereafter. The AHA urged the legislation’s House and Senate sponsors to eliminate restrictions on originating sites, and to allow critical access hospitals to offer and bill for telehealth services. (AHA News article, 10/10/23)