Resources & Reports

As another full year of living under the public health emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 comes to an end, we are taking a look back to see what has happened this year with telehealth policy on both the federal and state level.  Since the PHE is still in place and likely to continue into 2023, permanent changes on the federal level have been fewer in comparison to what many states have been doing. In fact, some states began making permanent telehealth policy changes as early as late 2020. Other states have taken similar actions to their federal counterparts and put a definitive future expiration date on temporary telehealth policies.

CCHP’s December newsletter is here! This month’s topics include: New G-Code Reporting Requirements for HHAs under CY 2023 CMS PPS Rule; Falling Investment for Telehealth Startups; World Health Organization Telemedicine Implementation Guidance; Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; In case you missed it:  New CCHP Resources Available! 2023 PFS Factsheet & 2022 State Legislative Roundup; Stakeholders Urge DEA to Propose Telemedicine Special Registration Regulations; New Rule Proposes Capturing Telehealth Place of Service in Retail Pharmacy Standards; Public Health Emergency Likely Extended Once More; FQHC Billing Assistance. 

As the year winds down, the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) is providing its annual State Legislation Roundup.  Enacted state telehealth bills in the 2022 legislative session followed trends forged in the previous 2021 legislative cycle, although at a slightly lesser volume.  While 2020 was largely focused on scrambling to meet the needs of the population during the COVID pandemic through temporary telehealth waivers and flexibilities, both 2021 and 2022 challenged states to decide how to translate their temporary COVID policies into permanent telehealth policies, and in many cases making adjustments to their previously passed laws concerning telehealth.

Established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA), Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) became a new designation in the Medicare program and an eligible originating site for telehealth delivered services (to go into effect in 2023).  The designation is meant for facilities that convert from either a critical access hospital (CAH) or a rural hospital with less than 50 beds and that do not provide acute care inpatient services (although there is an exception for skilled nursing facility (SNF) services).  However, some rural hospitals and CAHs are hesitating to adopt the new model.

On November 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their final rule for the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS).  CMS had previously released their proposed version on July 7, 2022.  After receiving submitted feedback from the public during the comment period, CMS published the final version that, unless otherwise stated, will have policies going into effect January 1, 2023.  Much of what was proposed in July remains in this final version.