The Cancer Support Community supports H.R. 7623/S. 3967, the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, to permanently extend telehealth flexibilities under Medicare coverage. This bipartisan legislation would protect the expanded access to remote virtual care enacted during the COVID-19 emergency period and increase the types of practitioners who may deliver these services and the types of services covered by Medicare. Additionally, these flexibilities would extend to Federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics with Medicare reimbursement to ensure delivery of telehealth services in these settings. This bill would allow for audio-only telehealth delivery as well, increasing accessibility of telehealth services to those with barriers to video visits, such as limited internet connectivity or device access.
Telehealth greatly enhanced patient access to care during the COVID-19 public health emergency and allowed for providers to deliver critical healthcare to patients. Patients who are 65 and older and certain younger people with disabilities in underserved settings, both rural and urban, would benefit from increased Medicare coverage of telehealth services by reducing geographic, physical, and financial barriers to accessing quality and timely healthcare. The telehealth flexibility provided through this bill is key to ensuring that millions of Americans may have increased access to healthcare and encourage future investments into transformative telehealth services.
