WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) joined a bipartisan group of 60 senators in reintroducing the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act. The CONNECT for Health Act will expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, improve health outcomes and make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors. Current flexibilities are set to expire on September 30 unless Congress extends them.

“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in our health care infrastructure while also demonstrating how telehealth can be an effective way to provide care to patients,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation would expand telehealth services and help make certain that Kansans, especially those in rural communities, continue to have access to the health care services they need.”

In addition to Sen. Moran, the bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Angus King (I-Maine.), Jim Justice (R-W.V.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.).

Telehealth provides essential access to care with nearly a quarter of Americans accessing telehealth in a month, according to the most recent available data.

The CONNECT for Health Act would:

• Permanently remove all geographic restrictions on telehealth services and expand originating sites to the location of the patient, including homes
• Permanently allow health centers and rural health clinics to provide telehealth services
• Allow more eligible health care professionals to utilize telehealth services
• Remove unnecessary in-person visit requirement for telemental health services
• Allow for the waiver of telehealth restrictions during public health emergencies
• Require more published data to learn more about how telehealth is being used, impacts of quality of care and how it can be improved to support patients and health care providers.

The CONNECT for Health Act was first introduced in 2016 and is considered the most comprehensive legislation on telehealth in Congress. Since 2016, several provisions of the bill have been enacted into law or adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including provisions to remove restrictions on telehealth services for mental health, stroke care and home dialysis.

Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Mike Thompson (D- Calif.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.).

The CONNECT for Health Act has the support of more than 150 organizations including the American Medical Association, AARP, American Hospital Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of Rural Health Clinics and American Telemedicine Association.

Click HERE for the full text of the bill.

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