MITCHELL, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Telehealth has been key to health care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some of the flexibilities for this type of care for Medicare patients could expire soon. A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center details how Congress could improve telehealth. Without action from Congress, telehealth provisions for Medicare expire at the end of this year. Maya Sandalow with the Bipartisan Policy Center says telehealth is especially important for rural states like South Dakota.

“We know that patients have to travel way farther than folks in urban areas to access care. Hospitals are shutting down and struggling to stay afloat. And so, telehealth is really an important part of this puzzle when it comes to helping people living in rural areas to access care.”

Sandalow says Congress looks likely to give a two-year extension to telehealth provisions, but she also notes members should consider ways to ensure people can access this care.

If the extension happens, the report recommends that Congress consider the cost of telehealth versus in-person care, the possibility of tracking telehealth companies’ quality of care, and making some policies permanent. Jonathan Neufeld of the Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center says one thing at stake is the ability for certain providers to bill Medicare for their services – physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, for example – who weren’t able to before the pandemic.

“Specifically, federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. That was a big one that allowed a huge portion of the safety net providers in the country to bill Medicare for telehealth encounters.”