QUESTION: I heard that CMS has proposed to extend some of the new telehealth flexibilities. Can you provide a little more information on this?
ANSWER: On Tuesday morning, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) submitted a proposed rule regarding revisions to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule. This proposed rule is available for public inspection in the Federal Register and is scheduled for publication on August 17th, 2020. The proposed rule addresses a wide range of topics. Among other things, CMS has proposed adding certain services to the Medicare Telehealth Services list permanently and has suggested that certain flexibilities will remain in place through the calendar year in which the public health emergency ends. Furthermore, CMS has expressed a willingness to solicit and use input from practitioners to determine whether further permanent changes should be made to the Medicare telehealth services list.
In the proposed rule, CMS noted that it had received a significant number of requests to add physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services to the Medicare telehealth services list permanently. The agency explained that even though there are waivers in effect during the current public health emergency, its authority would be limited to some degree by statute.
CMS also reiterated its policy that telehealth rules do not apply when the beneficiary and the practitioner are in the same location, even if audio-visual technology assists in furnishing a service. This was done in response to a number of questions about whether services should be reported as telehealth when the individual physician or practitioner furnishing the services is in the same location as the beneficiary.
In addition, CMS addressed questions about payment for audio-only telehealth services. The agency explained that it was also limited in this area by statutory requirements relating to telehealth services (which typically require an interactive telecommunications system that includes two-way, audio-visual communication technology). The agency noted its willingness to explore other potential improvements, and invited comment on certain kinds of telephone-only check in services.
Notably, this is only a brief overview of some of the changes included in the proposal. It is important to emphasize that these policies are not yet finalized and may change significantly in the following weeks. Nevertheless, the proposed rule does indicate that the agency is focusing its attention on making certain telehealth flexibilities permanent, to the extent its authority will allow. For a fact sheet that discusses the proposed rule, click here. To review the full proposed rule, click here.