In a comment letter addressed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Patient & Provider Advocates for Telehealth (PPATH) urges them to continue to provide and expand on clear telehealth coverage policies through the CY2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The letter acknowledges that many temporary policies implemented during the pandemic will be phased out, including many Medicare telehealth policies.
Advocating for the best interest of the patient, PPATH urges CMS to continue supporting a balanced approach that ensures clinicians have the tools necessary to continue providing in-person and telehealth care to Medicare patients. The letter goes on to explain how continuing telehealth services will benefit patients. It states that patients and clinicians have become increasingly comfortable with telehealth services since the pandemic and have begun to rely on ease of access to this service. People with mobility issues and other disabilities are among those who have benefitted from telehealth options.
Every patient’s needs are different and PPATH requests that CMS consider adopting longer-term policies that encourage an appropriate balance to ensure patients can access traditional in-person care and telehealth services. Additionally, to reinforce Medicare payment policy that supports a patient-centered approach to treatment by ensuring clinicians can provide personalized treatment to each patient in the site of care setting they deem appropriate.
PPATH believes that healthcare decisions should remain between clinicians and their patients and telehealth is part of the balanced approach.
Read the letter in full here. We invite you to visit our Advocacy Letters to Policymakers webpage to view other letters the Amputee Coalition has endorsed.