Telemedicine Could End Partisian Squabble Over Obamacare
Medicare coverage of telemedicine is too restrictive.
This is what lobby group, Alliance for Connected Care argues and is now getting ready to bring democratic and republican lawmakers together to expand the programme to cater more fully to the increasing number of patients demanding telehealth services.
According to The Washington Post, several of the nation’s largest pharmacies and health-care companies are urging lawmakers to expand the types of telehealth services that can be covered by government insurance programs, arguing that an outdated federal law is limiting the number of Americans who can access telemedicine.
Under current law, only telemedicine services offered through rural hospitals and clinics are covered by Medicare.
The Alliance for Connected Care includes CVS Health, Walgreens, Verizon, insurer WellPoint, telehealth companies Teledoc and HealthSpot, medical device maker Welch Allyn, medical products manufacturer Cardinal Health, and others. DLA Piper is working jointly with health lobbyists at Akin Gump.
The New York Times reported that the group is led by former Republican senator, Trent Lott, Tom Daschle who was once Senate Democratic leader and centrist Democrat John Breaux.
The former lawmakers say the idea of using the nation’s growing digital capacity to provide more health care has significant bipartisan support and could be an solution to the partisan schism over the Affordable Care Act.
“They have been fighting so long on Obamacare to have something we can all agree on is an opportunity to say yes, we can come together on health care,” said Mr. Breaux.
The lobby group in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary, Sylvia Mathews Burwell noted that Medicare reimburses for telehealth services only in limited circumstances.
Meanwhile, another coalition of telehealth organizations in a separate letter to Burwell wrote that 80 percent of Medicare beneficiaries do not meet the agency’s current restrictive definitions.
That coalition comprises of Intel, Panasonic,Health IT Now Coalition among others.
According to the Inquisitr, a number of technology companies, namely Google, have been investing heavily in telehealth services.
The Alliance for Connected Care is pushing for Congress to change the law to allow telemedicine to be substituted for in-person care. The American Medical Association however cautions that telemedicine must be carefully regulated to ensure that the quality of care is not less than that of an in-person visit.
Given the current state of the Congress, it is hard to imagine the fiery conservatives working with the outspoken liberals on telemedicine.
[Image via NPR]
