More than 230 healthcare organizations, including 35 health systems, are urging CMS not to finalize proposed 2027 restrictions on remote patient monitoring.
The Sept. 14 sign-on letter, organized by the Alliance for Connected Care, represents an expansion from an earlier version sent in August to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, that carried more than 200 signatures and roughly 30 health systems. New signers on the updated letter include Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare and Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, joining systems such as St. Louis-based Ascension, Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Health and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care.
The coalition is objecting to provisions in the 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule that would restrict how remote physiologic monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring services can be staffed and reimbursed. Signers said the changes would disrupt care for roughly 1 million Medicare beneficiaries who use remote monitoring to manage chronic conditions at home.
The American Hospital Association said the proposal would cause “immediate and significant disruption for Medicare beneficiaries,” according to a Sept. 17 compilation of stakeholder comments published by the Alliance for Connected Care.
The letter warns that small practices, rural providers and safety-net organizations would be hit hardest, with many forced to scale back or end remote monitoring programs. The coalition is asking CMS to delay the policy and pursue narrower, evidence-based safeguards instead of broad restrictions.
CMS proposed the restrictions July 14 as part of the 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The agency’s public comment period on the rule closed Sept. 14, with most provisions set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
