Resources & Reports

On March 15^th President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.  This bill will extend federal telehealth flexibilities for 151 days post-public health emergency (PHE), including PHE location, provider, and audio-only expansions, and includes new report requirements.  A delay to the new in-person telemental health visit requirement in Medicare was also included for the same period of time.

As states continue to grapple with post-public health emergency (PHE) telehealth policies, California’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), recently released their permanent proposal document. The majority of the telehealth expansions made during COVID appear to remain, including those around audio-only and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health centers (RHC). The issue of payment parity remains unclear, however, as the budget trailer bill language implementing the proposal only explicitly speaks to parity for synchronous modalities and other exceptions.

CCHP’s March Newsletter is Here! This month’s topics include: Federal Regulations Expected on Substance Use Disorder/Buprenorphine and TRICARE; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; Request For Information on Medicaid and CHIP; NIST Telehealth RPM Guidance; Support Mounts for Permanent Expansion of Telehealth Delivered Services in Medicare; Racial Disparity and Progress Made with Telehealth & the ACA.