The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth services – virtual engagements with health practitioners – to ensure Americans could continue to receive care from the safety of their own homes. To support adoption, Congress provided temporary telehealth flexibilities, which improved access to behavioral health services and enabled individuals to obtain treatment beyond their immediate geographic area.
Since then, these services have become an essential resource for the American health care system. Employers recognize the benefits of virtual care to the workforce. Congress is also taking steps to acknowledge the value telemedicine offers Americans and their families. Two House committees approved legislation to extend key Medicare telehealth flexibilities for two years. The flexibilities are scheduled to expire at the end of the year.
Protecting Americans’ Coverage Together (PACT), a coalition of business voices committed to strengthening employer-provided coverage for nearly 180 million Americans who rely on it, has commended the House’s recent action to advance legislation to extend these telehealth flexibilities. Federal support for telehealth extensions would reinforce employers’ efforts to provide employees with robust services that go beyond traditional medical visits.
Telehealth provides convenient care, particularly to underserved areas, but these services can also play a key role in addressing our nation’s mental health crisis. Earlier this year, PACT released policy recommendations that included expanding access to telehealth services as a solution to responding to some of the shortcomings in our mental health system.
Employers understand the value that telehealth provides its workforce and are looking to build upon these existing services in the new year. Telehealth continues to play an integral role in the innovative delivery of care, helping to mitigate barriers in communities hamstrung by ongoing workforce shortages. This two-year extension will encourage greater availability of health care services, remove constraints for both providers and patients, and facilitate access to a greater network of services. PACT applauds Congress' commitment to strengthening telehealth services and urges lawmakers to pass legislation ahead of its expiration at the end of the year.
The Protecting Americans' Coverage Together campaign is a coalition that includes the U.S Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Vermeer Corporation, The National Association of Manufacturers and Council for Affordable Health Coverage. PACT represents leading employer voices focused on strengthening employer-provided coverage and protecting the benefits that American families depend on for their health.
