We hope that everyone is staying safe during the COVID-19 crisis. State health departments are, of course, doing what they can to facilitate management of transmission of COVID-19 by healthcare providers. Some recent actions by the New York Department of Health (“DOH”) to allow or promote telephonic and telehealth services include:
Telephonic Evaluation – Beginning
While the world continues to respond to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Congress recently passed legislation that provides for more than $8 billion in emergency funding to combat COVID-19. Part of this supplemental funding package, signed into law on March 6, 2020, includes the Telehealth Services During Certain Emergency Periods Act of 2020 (the “Act”),[1] which authorizes the Administration to loosen restrictions on telehealth in order to expand access to COVID-19 related telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries—many of whom are especially vulnerable to this virus and in the event of future emergencies. On March 17, 2020, the Administration announced the implementation of this waiver with a retroactive effective date of March 6, 2020.
Continue Reading Congress’s COVID-19 Funding Legislation Expands Access to Telehealth Services for Medicare Beneficiaries
Our colleagues Amy F. Lerman, Francesca R. Ozinal, and team have released the 2019 update to Epstein Becker Green’s Telemental Health Laws survey.
Available as a complimentary app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, the survey covers state telehealth laws, regulations, and policies within mental health.
For more about the
On February 14, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced the Emergency Triage, Treatment and Transport reimbursement model (the “ET3 Model”), a demonstration project that aims to provide improved flexibility to ambulance crews addressing 911-initiated emergency calls for Medicare beneficiaries.
CMS plans to release its Request for Applications (“RFA”) to solicit participation
The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the Department of Health and Human Services recently issued an Advisory Opinion that provides insight into how the agency evaluates arrangements that deal with the integration of technology, medicine, and patient monitoring under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”). In Advisory Opinion No. 19-02, OIG evaluated whether a
The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (“the Act” or “the SUPPORT Act”), signed into law by President Trump on October 24, 2018, is intended to combat the growing opioid crisis in the United States. The Act aims at preventing opioid addiction and misuse and enhancing access to care for those who have
The Ryan Haight Act Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 (21 U.S.C. § 802(54)) (the “Ryan Haight Act” or “Act”) expanded the federal Controlled Substances Act to define appropriate internet usage in the dispensing and prescribing of schedule drugs, and in doing so effectively banned the issuance of prescriptions via telemedicine services for any
At first blush, the passage of House Bill 5483, entitled the “Special Registration for Telemedicine Clarification Act of 2018” (the “Bill”), appears to address the issue concerning the lack of regulatory guidance regarding the “Special Registration” exception to the Ryan Haight Act of 2008; however, a deeper and more careful analysis reveals that the
Effective June 11, 2018, all Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) health care providers will be able to offer the same level of care to all beneficiaries regardless of the beneficiary’s or the health care provider’s location. In its recently released final rule, the VA stated that in December 2016 Congress mandated that the agency
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report revealing that during OIG’s 2014 and 2015 audits of telehealth claims, more than half of the professional telehealth claims paid by the Medicare program did not have matching originating-site facility claims.
According to the report, Medicare telehealth spending