Congress Grants Extension to Pandemic Telehealth Rules

Congress has just temporarily extended several policies that have made telehealth more available since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — but those extensions won’t last forever. Experts tell AIS Health that the contents and duration of the extensions don’t meet the needs of the various stakeholders — health insurers, plan sponsors and practitioners — who have pushed for a comprehensive telehealth reform bill that will make permanent the virtual care gains realized during the pandemic.

Several temporary telehealth flexibilities made their way into a bill that will fund the government through the rest of the year, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which was signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, March 16. According to JD Supra, those policies include: