Members of Congress are calling for a two-year extension of pandemic-era telemedicine benefits that are set to expire at the end of the year. A proposed DEA rule, however, could halt many of those flexibilities.
A key factor in the DEA’s “Third Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription” that lawmakers are contesting are the possible limits that prescribers would face. The rule would allow no more than 50% of prescriptions to be written through telemedicine.
“Members of Congress are calling for an extension because [providers] are advocating for patients who have benefitted from obtaining some services using telehealth. It has been a way to continue access to care,“ Cynthia Morton, executive vice president of Advion, told McKnights Long-Term Care News on Wednesday. “This is important during our workforce shortage when it can be very difficult to get clinicians, including rehab therapists, to patients when they need services.”
Worried lawmakers believe this regulation will undoubtedly have a direct impact on long-term care patients and others who may be restricted in their ability to see a physician regularly.
“We appreciated the DEA’s extension of the telemedicine flexibilities through the end of the year while developing this proposal, but are concerned that the new policies would significantly restrict access to necessary and life-saving treatments,” 11 senators wrote in a letter to the Biden administration.“These restrictions would be detrimental to patients and a barrier to accessing care.”
The letter was a display of the group’s disdain for the possible erasure of key benefits on Dec 31, including the ability for federally qualified facilities and rural health centers to provide non-behavioral telemedicine services.
Two previous extensions aren’t enough to ease some lawmakers’ concerns. Meanwhile, some observers are optimistic that nursing homes won’t be harmed significantly by the DEA measure.
“The DEA proposal will not impact nursing facilities too much,” Morton said. “I doubt prescriptions are given through telehealth enough for this proposal to impact. Telehealth in nursing facilities is used for physician visits, specialty visits and rehab therapy services.”
The matter is likely to fall on the desk of the newly elected president. That may mean a warm welcome if Vice President Harris winds up sitting in the Oval Office. On Tuesday, she proposed the expansion of telehealth services in rural areas through increased funding and extended Medicare coverage.
