Bipartisan House Bill Proposes Increased Medicare Coverage of Telemedicine

A bill amending Title XVIII of the Social Security Act will be proposed soon, marking the culmination of bipartisan efforts in the House of Representatives. Representatives Glenn Thompson (R-Penn.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) are prepared to announce a new telehealth bill, titled the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2014, which would reduce the Social Security Act’s current limitations on reimbursable telemedicine technologies.

Currently, the Social Security Act only permits reimbursement for telemedicine uses in rural health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) and non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Not only are these qualifications limiting, they are also difficult to discern. For example, in the 2000s, the Health Resource and Service Administration (HRSA) eliminated the “rural HPSA” category from its designations, resulting in confusion regarding the correct application of the term. The forthcoming bill seeks to slowly resolve these reimbursement complications through a cost-effective, four-year plan:

• Within six months of the bill’s passage, it would mandate that Medicare provide coverage for telemedicine in urban areas with a population of 50,000 or less. Additionally, the six month period would be used to increase care sites to include retail clinics.
• Two years following the bill’s passage, Medicare coverage would expand to urban areas with a population of 100,000 or less. Furthermore, the bill would include home telehealth to the list of care sites, while expanding reimbursable services to encompass physical and speech therapy.
• Lastly, after four years have passed, the bill would make telemedicine reimbursable across the United States.

In addition to the four-year plan, the bill seeks to officially add remote patient monitoring (RPM) to the Social Security Act’s list of reimbursable services. The bill defines RPM as “the remote monitoring, evaluation, and management of an individual with a covered chronic health condition . . ., insofar as such monitoring, evaluation, and management is with respect to such condition, through the utilization of a system of technology that allows a remote interface to collect and transmit clinical data between the individual and the responsible physician . . . or supplier.” By offering government reimbursement for RPM services, thereby expanding RPM use, the bill hopes to increase Medicare savings over time.

Also, the Representatives’ bill would task the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with developing standards for remote patient monitoring. Finally, the United States comptroller would be directed to conduct a study within two years of the bill’s passage, to determine the efficacy and estimated Medicare savings from the expansion of telemedicine applications.

The bill does not address Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or other federal health plans, nor does it comment on licensure or liability issues. However, studies show that incorporating reimbursement strategies for telemedicine in Medicare alone will result in significant cost savings, not only in transportation costs, but also in models of delivery and access to care. According to a study conducted by Stanford University, the implementation of telemedicine is estimated to generate 7.7% to 13.3% spending reductions per Medicare patient, per quarter.

Wachler & Associates’ health law attorneys will continue to monitor any further developments regarding the proposed bill and all other federal and state legislation. If you have any questions about how your entity will be impacted by the final rule or any other regulation, please contact an experienced health care attorney at Wachler & Associates via phone at 248-544-0888 or via email at wapc@wachler.com.