Shenango Valley News

On Wednesday, the Ways & Means Committee advanced H.R. 8151, a bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Adrian Smith (R-NE). The bill aims to permanently expand the list of practitioners eligible to provide telehealth services to include qualified physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, and audiologists. This legislation was included in H.R. 8261, The Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act, introduced by Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).

"I'm incredibly pleased to see this critical legislation advance out of our committee," said Rep. Kelly. "Americans across the country, especially rural areas, have seen the benefits of telehealth services following the COVID-19 pandemic." He added that seniors now have the convenience of seeing their doctor from home and families with children have new flexibility to work around their busy lives.

Rep. Thompson echoed these sentiments saying that telehealth allows patients—especially those with low mobility or who otherwise can't make it to the doctor’s office—to access the care they need when they need it.

“Telehealth innovation is a game-changing solution for rural health care challenges,” said Rep. Smith. “I’m grateful we were able to advance this commonsense measure out of the Ways and Means Committee providing Americans with greater access to care."

The bill was among six bills approved by the Committee during a markup on Wednesday that addressed a wide range of pressing health care issues, particularly those facing rural communities.

H.R. 8261, The Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act aims to preserve Medicare patients’ access to vital telehealth for two years and Hospital-at-Home services for five years; preserve essential Medicare programs that sustain rural and low-volume hospitals expiring in 2024; and preserve Medicare add-on payments for urban, rural, and super-rural areas to preserve access to crucial emergency ambulance services expiring in 2024.