Last week, Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced new legislation to test expanded Medicare coverage of telehealth services.  The Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow selected, eligible hospitals to offer telehealth services in cooperation with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), which develops and tests new service delivery models for cost, effectiveness, and improvement in quality of care.  Models that are successful under the CMMI’s criteria could be expanded and covered by the Medicare program.

The stated goal of the Senators introducing the Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act is to improve access to healthcare for rural Medicare beneficiaries, who sometimes live far away from hospitals and medical centers.  The bill’s sponsors also believe the proposed legislation will lower health care costs and reduce emergency room visits, hospitalizations and readmissions.

Senators Gardner and Peters previously introduced similar telehealth legislation in 2015.  That bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, but it was never given a hearing or voted on.