Advocates for telehealth viewed the proposed physician payment rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a win but emphasized the need for Congressional action.
CMS’ proposed regulation of the 2025 Medicare physician fee schedule, published on Wednesday, renewed a series of telehealth flexibilities that started during the public health emergency amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But telehealth advocates say more actions will be needed by Congress before the industry can operate with certainty.
Read more: Another Medicare pay cut looms for physicians
In the proposed rule, CMS permanently allowed for audio-only telehealth when patients are not capable of, or do not consent to, use of video. It also said telehealth practitioners could continue reporting office locations—instead of their home addresses—through 2025. Christopher Adamec, executive director at industry stakeholder group Alliance for Connected Care, said the provision is welcomed by many providers who use telehealth and say it's a significant burden to report a physical location.
“That flexibility is something clinicians in the alliance feel very strongly about protecting,” Adamec said. “If a permanent solution had to look different that would be ok, but we don’t want to end up in a situation where a clinician is reporting their address wherever they issue care.”