Health Care

Viewpoints

Filter by:

Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

CMS Administrator Verma Calls for Permanent Expansion of Telehealth Access after COVID-19. Will States Follow Suit?

June 10, 2020 | Blog | By Cassandra Paolillo, Ellen Janos

In an interview yesterday, CMS administrator Seema Verma expressed support for permanently expanding access to telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency resolves. Here, we explore the nature and duration of the temporary executive and regulatory orders, emergency legislation, and sub-regulatory guidance, which have resulted greater access to telehealth while leaving a fair amount of uncertainty as to what the future of telehealth looks like.
Read more
Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

FTC Comments on New Medicare Rule in Support of Expanded Telehealth Services

June 4, 2020 | Blog | By Evan Moore, Joseph Miller

On May 29th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted a comment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in support of reducing reimbursement requirements for telehealth services. CMS accepted public comments for its new Interim Final Rule published on April 6, 2020, 85 FR 19230, which changes the Medicare payment regulations to allow for more flexible Medicare service options in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to supporting CMS’s new Interim Final Rule, FTC’s comment recommends permanent measures and further steps to take. The comment offers a valuable insight into the Commission’s stance on telemedicine in relation to health care competition.
Read more
Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

Telehealth Reimbursement Continues to Expand for Medicare and Medicaid

May 6, 2020 | Blog | By Ellen Janos

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional waivers of limitations on Medicare reimbursement of telehealth services and updated its summary of COVID-19 blanket waivers. We’ve previously blogged about actions by CMS and other federal and state agencies to increase access to and encourage utilization of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic through loosening of restrictions on telehealth reimbursement (see here and here). CMS is now taking additional steps to further these goals. Below is a summary of the major changes that CMS announced last week.
Read more
Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

In Case You Missed It: COVID-19 Webinars to Keep You Informed

April 24, 2020 | Blog

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has introduced uncertainty and unique challenges in nearly every aspect of life. During this unprecedented time, Mintz is working to keep our clients and community informed and empowered to navigate this new world. To that end, we’ve created a number of webinars on a variety of COVID-19-related topics of interest to health care industry stakeholders. In case you missed them, here’s a highlights reel of what we’ve covered so far – just click on the links below to access the webinar recordings.
Read more
Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

Barriers to Telehealth Continue to Fall After CARES Act and Other Federal and State Actions

April 3, 2020 | Blog | By Ellen Janos

As we’ve previously discussed on the blog, telehealth is playing a critical role in delivering care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Congress and states continue to take action to expand the use and reimbursement of telehealth services. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed by Congress last Friday includes many provisions that further expand the use and reimbursement of telehealth during this public health emergency. Congress previously took action to start waiving certain telehealth requirements in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (Appropriations Act) passed on March 6, 2020, which we previously discussed here. In this post, we’ll cover the key ways that the CARES Act continues to remove barriers to telehealth, in addition to other recent federal and state actions.
Read more
Health Care Viewpoints Thumbnail

Congress Loosens Telehealth Reimbursement Restrictions in Response to Coronavirus, but State Law Practice Requirements Remain

March 17, 2020 | Blog | By Ellen Janos

Telehealth is going to play a critical role in the delivery of care in the coming weeks and months as health care providers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the CDC and other public health agencies continue to recommend social distancing and self-quarantine after exposure, telehealth is a vital tool for getting both sick and healthy individuals access to health care services they need if in-person services are not necessary. The use of telehealth services should help alleviate the ever-growing pressures on health care systems as they respond to the outbreak.  In light of these benefits, the Emergency Appropriations Bill passed by Congress last week includes provisions that allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to lift certain restrictions that are currently required for Medicare  reimbursement of telehealth services. 
Read more
Practice Intro Health Care Enforcement Investigations Mintz

Telemedicine Platform Recalled Over Failure to Obtain Pre-Market Clearance or Approval from FDA

August 29, 2019 | Blog | By Benjamin Zegarelli, Ellen Janos

On August 8, 2019, FDA issued a notice on its medical device recall database that a company called Opternative, Inc. had initiated a recall for the Visibly Online Refractive Vision Test, a software application offered directly to consumers. This represents a recent example of FDA taking enforcement action against a telemedicine software company that ultimately resulted in removal of the app from commercial distribution.
Read more
Viewpoint Thumbnail

FCC Seeks Big Role in Telemedicine with New Fund

July 31, 2019 | Blog | By Russell Fox

$100 million in Federal funds may soon become available to help healthcare providers cover the costs of broadband and connected care services. Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on a proposal, on which it will seek public comment, for a new “Connected Care Pilot Program,” and the comment period on that proposal has now begun. The proposed program would direct money to telehealth initiatives, especially for medically underserved populations like low-income families and veterans. The money would come from the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is an existing fund of fees paid by telecommunications service providers currently used for a variety of purposes.
Read more

House and Senate Opioid Packages Comparison

August 28, 2018 | Blog | By Emma Zimmerman

The opioid epidemic has driven significant legislation this session.  To help our readers track the pending opioid legislation, ML Strategies has created a chart to analyze various provisions of House and Senate bills and their overlap.
Read more
Viewpoint Thumbnail

CMS Proposes to Overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program

August 23, 2018 | Blog

On August 9, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
Read more

CMS Focuses on a Modern Medicare

July 23, 2018 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller

Earlier this month, CMS proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program with the goal of “modernizing Medicare and restoring the doctor-patient relationship.”
Read more

Telehealth Gets a Boost in Proposed Physician Fee Schedule

July 13, 2018 | Blog | By Ellen Janos

Some very good news for the telehealth community can be found amidst the more than 1,400 pages of the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2019(“Proposed Rule”) issued by CMS yesterday.
Read more

Privacy and Security Round-up – Colorado Data Breach Law, Guidance from OCR

June 20, 2018 | Blog

Privacy and security compliance obligations for health care companies remain hot topics this spring. Health care companies must now contend with data breach laws in all 50 states as well as keeping on top of federal HIPAA developments.
Read more

ML Strategies Health Care Preview - Week of April 16th

April 16, 2018 | Blog

Congress will continue its work in addressing the opioid crisis this week with a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee. There were reports last week that Congress will also consider legislation around telemedicine, which is sure to capture stakeholders attention.
Read more

Department of Veterans Affairs Aims to Trump State Telemedicine Rules

October 10, 2017 | Blog | By Ryan Cuthbertson

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) is taking a significant step towards expanding needed services to Veterans by proposing a rule to preempt state restrictions on telehealth.
Read more

Holdout States Loosen Restrictions on Telemedicine but Obstacles Remain

August 3, 2017 | Blog | By Carrie Roll

A few months ago, two states that previously imposed onerous telemedicine requirements – Texas and Oklahoma – enacted laws that loosen restrictions on telemedicine providers and generally fall into line with what a vast majority of states already permit.
Read more

CBO Greenlights Telehealth Provisions in Senate’s CHRONIC Care Act

May 25, 2017 | Blog | By Carrie Roll

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that a key piece of telehealth legislation, the CHRONIC Care Act of 2017, would not, overall, increase or decrease Medicare spending.
Read more

GAO Report: Medicare Reimbursement Policies Impede Telehealth Adoption

April 26, 2017 | Blog | By Carrie Roll

RAlthough telehealth has the potential to improve or maintain quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, payment and coverage restrictions create barriers that prevent providers from fully utilizing telehealth technologies.
Read more

States Continue Trend to Reduce Telemedicine Barriers

March 31, 2017 | Blog | By Carrie Roll

In 2016 and now in early 2017, state legislatures and regulatory boards continue to enact laws and rules setting telemedicine practice standards.
Read more

Health Care Outlook for 2017 from ML Strategies

January 23, 2017 | Blog

ML Strategies has published its Washington Outlook for 2017, with a collection of materials covering what to expect from the 115th Congress, spanning multiple issues and industries.
Read more

Subscribe

Sign up to receive email updates from Mintz.
Subscribe Now
Health Law Diagnosed Podcast Blog Button

Health Law Diagnosed: A Mintz Podcast

Telehealth Promo Button

Telehealth Updates

covid-19-compliance

Value-Based Care

Viewpoint Editors

Explore Other Viewpoints:

I'm Looking For...