capitol hill report: LOOSENED TELEHEALTH POLICIES IN PERIL

February 7, 2022

Latest Advocacy News

• AAN President Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, published an op-ed in MedPage Today highlighting the AAN’s work to lower prescription drug prices. Avitzur was quoted in a press release from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) expressing the AAN’s support for the Conrad 30 program, which helps bolster the US physician workforce in rural and underserved areas.
• On January 26, the AAN, along with the American Geriatric Society and the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, met with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss the recently proposed National Coverage Determination for aducanumab and other beta amyloid monoclonal antibody therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The AAN submitted comments on February 4, 2022. You can find more information on the Aducanumab Resources page.
• Applications for the 2022 Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum are now open. Interested members can learn more about the forum and application.

Issue in Focus

Every 90 days, the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency (PHE) declaration must be renewed by Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. For now, extensions of the PHE are presumed and met with little fanfare. The significant easing of restrictions for treating Medicare beneficiaries via telehealth is only possible due to this public health declaration. Without it, most significant Medicare telehealth policies will revert to what they were pre-pandemic.

At some point, the United States will no longer be in a pandemic which is good for population health, but terrible news for telemedicine. In recognition of this, last week hundreds of telehealth stakeholders, including the AAN, state neurosocieties, and patient advocacy organizations, demanded that Congress act soon to ensure Medicare telehealth flexibilities are maintained to provide much-needed certainty to physicians and patients. This call was echoed by 35 senators and nine representatives, each of whom have been champions of telehealth over the years.

Congress must pass legislation to continue to fund the government by February 18, 2022. This coalition has made it clear to Congress that we believe that policies to provide telehealth stability should be part of this legislative package.

What We're Reading

• Ongoing Neurology Practice Interruptions During COVID-19: The Importance of Adaptation (Neurology Advisor)
• Moderna wins full approval for its Covid-19 vaccine, as Novavax seeks authorization for its version (STAT)
• TBI: A Roadmap for Accelerating Progress from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (report)