Telehealth investments are a key component of many states’ plans for their Rural Health Transformation Program initiatives, but the potential expiration of the pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities could throw a wrench in those strategies.
Oklahoma Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Rasmussen said the deployment of telehealth technologies is one of the key ways rural hospitals in his state will benefit from CMS’ $50 billion program, which outlined first-year funding awards on Dec. 29.
“It’s a rural health transformation plan, not a rural hospital transformation [plan],” Mr. Rasmussen told Becker’s. “When we look at our state, a lot of what they are investing in is going to be healthcare organizations and state government, and not exclusively hospitals. The biggest part for the hospitals is going to be in clinical integration and in that type of networking collaboration, as well as the deployment of telehealth-style technologies.”
The telehealth waivers are set to expire Jan. 30 but could be extended as part of the next government funding package. The flexibilities lapsed during the recent government shutdown that began Oct. 1 but were restored in the Nov. 12 temporary funding bill. During the first 17 days of the shutdown, there was a 24% decline in Medicare fee-for-service telehealth visits, according to data from Providence, R.I.-based Brown University.
Without an extension of that funding, Mr. Rasmussen said many states — including Oklahoma — will not be able to deploy some of the proposed technologies.
“That’s something that Congress needs to have front and center, and something CMS needs to be driving to have fixed in perpetuity when Congress comes together to iron out the final appropriations bill,” he said
The American Medical Association on Jan. 5 called for Congress to enact a permanent extension of the Medicare telehealth waiver.
