Telehealth flexibility—first introduced during the pandemic—will end on December 31, 2024, for people with Medicare unless Congress steps in and makes telehealth permanent. 

Urge Congress to support the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act (H.R. 4189/S. 2016).

Telehealth access benefits everyone but has a significant impact for those living in rural areas, people with mobility issues, patients with multiple chronic health conditions, and those who use it to connect to mental health services. More than 4.1 million people with Medicare used telehealth services in the beginning of 2022, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a big jump from pre-pandemic rates in 2020.  

“Telehealth makes it possible for older adults and people in rural areas of this country, like me, to get the services they need,” said Cheryl, a PAN grant recipient living with basal cell carcinoma in rural Michigan.

Without permanent telehealth access, millions of patients like Cheryl will lose an important access point to their healthcare.

The CONNECT for Health Act would expand telehealth coverage for people with Medicare by:

• Removing geographic restrictions, allowing healthcare professionals to connect with patients from any location in the U.S.
• Expanding the definition of ‘originating sites’ to include a patient’s home and other clinically appropriate sites
• Expanding the eligibility for healthcare professionals to offer telehealth services
• Permanently allowing Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) to offer telehealth services
• Removing unnecessary in-person visit requirements for telemental health services
• Supporting the study of telehealth by CMS and sharing telehealth usage data
   

Take action now to ensure continued access to telehealth for all!