Lawmakers Refile Connect to Health Act to Increase Telehealth Availability
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., led refiling of the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (Connect) for Health Act…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Wednesday. The bill aims to expand telehealth services through Medicare (see 1602030054). It would give the Health and Human Services secretary authority to waive some restrictions. Telehealth “is advancing, more providers and patients are relying on it, and we have broad bipartisan support,” Schatz said. It “will help bring access to telehealth to more areas across our nation by expanding use to services like mental health and emergency care, improving the implementation process, including new sites that can provide telehealth care like Federally-qualified health centers, and helping providers better monitor patients,” Thompson said. Original Senate co-sponsors include Communications Chairman John Thune, R-S.D.; and Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; and Mark Warner, D-Va. The House version's original co-sponsors are Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and David Schweikert, R-Ariz. Lawmakers touted endorsements from 120-plus organizations.