Resources & Reports

In 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) made a series of proposals for permanent telehealth policies post-COVID-19. At that time, telehealth advocates raised concerns and the Administration and Legislature agreed to delay making any permanent decisions until 2022 while additional feedback from stakeholders could be gathered. In the meantime, the temporary telehealth COVID policies DHCS enacted in response to the pandemic would remain at least through the end of 2022.  With 2023 now looming, the time for new permanent policies has come and two pieces of legislation, SB 184 and AB 32 (Aguiar-Curry), will enact new telehealth policies in the new year.

CCHP’s November Newsletter is here! This month’s topics include: CMS Releases Final Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule; JAMA Article on a Vision of Medicare Coverage for Emerging Technologies; HEDIS Measure Study; Billing Telebehavioral Health HHS Resource; OIG Examines Home Health Agency COVID Response, Including Telehealth; Federal Public Health Emergency Extended; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; In case you missed it:  The Fall 2022 50-State Report is Here!; Complex Medicaid Requirements Creates Barrier for Telehealth. 

Last month, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a comprehensive report on The Future of Telehealth After COVID-19. The report is based upon an analysis of Medicare Telehealth Utilization and Spending Impacts 2019-2021, stakeholder input and interviews, a literature review, and a national consumer survey.

Last week’s latest update to CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder included a brand-new feature: a category specifically for federally qualified health centers’ (FQHC) Medicaid fee-for-service policies.  Funded by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) through funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the new section includes the many unique rules that apply to FQHCs that sometimes effect their ability to utilize telehealth.

Today the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) is releasing its bi-annual summary of state telehealth policy changes for Fall 2022.  Additionally, we are also making available a summary chart showing where states stand on many key telehealth policies, as well as an infographic highlighting our key findings. The most current information in CCHP’s online policy finder tool may be exported for each state into a PDF document.  The Fall 2022 summary report  adds in two new jurisdictions, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, and covers updates in state telehealth policy made between July and early September 2022.