Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement after the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to pay clinicians across the country for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries during the coronavirus outbreak. This decision was enabled by passage earlier this month of provisions from Sen. Warner's bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act of 2019, as part of the initial $8.3 billion coronavirus response package.

“I am relieved that Medicare is quickly moving to take advantage of the telehealth authorities Congress has given it through my legislation. There is no doubt that, if properly implemented, this technology will be a crucial tool for protecting American seniors during the coronavirus outbreak,” said Sen. Warner. ”The key now is for Medicare to take clear and decisive steps to swiftly put this technology in the hands of doctors and seniors at this critical moment in the COVID-19 outbreak. While it is unfortunate that it took a public health crisis to push these important telehealth provisions through, I am hopeful that, with proper implementation, this experience will eventually lead to a full expansion of telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries through passage of the bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act.”

The Warner-authored language in the first coronavirus response bill cuts restrictions on Medicare's use of telehealth for the COVID-19 public health emergency response. CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced Medicare's telehealth expansion yesterday at the White House during a Coronavirus Task Force press conference. 

“These changes allow seniors to communicate with their doctors without having to travel to a healthcare facility so that they can limit risk of exposure and spread of this virus,” Administrator Verma said at the press conference. “Clinicians on the frontlines will now have greater flexibility to safely treat our beneficiaries.”

The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019 builds on the progress made in recent years to increase the use of telehealth through Medicare. Specifically, the legislation would:

  • Provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to waive telehealth restrictions when necessary;
  • Remove geographic and originating site restrictions for services like mental health and emergency medical care;
  • Allow rural health clinics and other community-based health care centers to provide telehealth services; and
  • Require a study to explore more ways to expand telehealth services so that more people can access health care services in their own homes.

Sen. Warner has been a longtime advocate for increased access to health care through telehealth. Last year, he successfully included a provision to expand telehealth services for substance abuse treatment in the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018. In 2003, then-Gov. Warner expanded Medicaid coverage for telemedicine statewide, including evaluation and management visits, a range of individual psychotherapies, the full range of consultations, and some clinical services, including in cardiology and obstetrics. Coverage was also expanded to include non-physician providers. Among other benefits, the telehealth expansion allowed individuals in medically underserved and remote areas of Virginia to access quality specialty care that isn’t always available at home.

A list of Sen. Warner’s work to protect and support Virginians during the coronavirus outbreak is available here.

 

 

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