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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
This bipartisan bill would ensure the expanded use of telehealth after the Coronavirus public health emergency by eliminating restrictions on the use in Medicare and requiring a study on the use of the practices during the pandemic.
This would provide a bridge for patients who have come to rely on telehealth to both get important health care needs met while cutting down on the spread of the virus.
“Telehealth has been a game changer during the Coronavirus pandemic, ensuring that patients can continue to get care while reducing the spread of the virus during routine medical visits. However, patients could face an abrupt end to the practice once the pandemic is over, even though it’s long been a proven and cost-effective way to get care,” said Thompson. “That’s why I am proud to join with my colleagues to reintroduce the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act. This bill ensures the expansion of telehealth can stay in place and be used for continuous care during future disasters and emergencies. I will continue working to get this bill passed and to expand the use of telehealth both during and after the pandemic.”
“This unprecedented pandemic has proven that telehealth not only works, but that it’s essential,” said Welch. “These practical telehealth provisions have been successfully implemented and should be continued to ensure that everyone has access to quality healthcare no matter where they live or how mobile they are. This is a commonsense step to make sure our policies keep pace with our technology.”
“Telehealth has played a major role in keeping vulnerable patients safe during this pandemic, and this bipartisan legislation keeps telehealth expansion in place. In Eastern and Southeastern Ohio and across rural America, we’ve seen that telehealth can be effectively and conveniently used in both times of crisis and in normal times,” said Johnson. “Increasing access to telehealth has long been a priority of mine, and I encourage my colleagues to support this important bill; it’s time for Congress to make telehealth expansion and access permanent.”
“I am pleased to re-introduce this legislation with my colleagues on the Telehealth Caucus, continuing our work to advance solutions for how we can provide efficient and accessible care into the 117th Congress,” said Schweikert. “It is clear that telemedicine is part of the future of our healthcare system and should be continued as an attainable tool for all Americans. I am hopeful we can advance this legislation in the House soon, to ensure once the pandemic is declared over, patients can continue to have access to the care they deserve wherever they are.”
“As the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to fundamentally change how patients and providers engage in health care delivery, we have seen that leveraging telehealth is a long-term solution to ensure patients have access to the care they need,” said Matsui. “The expansion of digital services throughout the pandemic has been crucial to our most vulnerable patients, Older Americans, and the traditionally underserved – and we must ensure that this level of access to care survives well beyond this crisis. This legislation provides a vital bridge for patients to continue their virtual care at home and supports the further implementation of innovative solutions as we continue our mission to equalize access to care.
You can click here to read the full text of the Protecting Access to Post-Covid-19 Telehealth Act.
This bipartisan bill was first introduced in July 2020. It works to expand the use of telehealth after the end of the Coronavirus crisis by:
– Eliminating most geographic and originating site restrictions on the use of telehealth in Medicare and establishing the patient’s home as an eligible distant site so patients can receive telehealth care at home and doctors can still be reimbursed;
– Preventing a sudden loss of telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries by authorizing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service to continue reimbursement for telehealth for 90 days beyond the end of the public health emergency;
– Making permanent the disaster waiver authority, enabling Health and Human Service to expand telehealth in Medicare during all future emergencies and disasters; and
– Requiring a study on the use of telehealth during COVID, including its costs, uptake rates, measurable health outcomes, and racial and geographic disparities.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
This bipartisan bill addresses the mental health care gap for seniors by expanding the network of providers that can deliver mental and behavioral health services to Medicare beneficiaries.
“Often seniors are at a greater risk for mental illnesses and can find it hard to get access to the mental health services they need. That’s why I’ve reintroduced my bill to help close the gap for seniors by allowing them to see a wider range of qualified mental health care providers through Medicare,” said Thompson. “When we address these mental health care needs, we help ensure they don’t lead to greater health problems that can be costly for our nation’s seniors. I am glad to again introduce this important bill and to continue my work caring for the health and well-being of older Americans.”
“I’m proud to join my colleague Rep. Thompson in re-introducing the Mental Health Access Improvement Act. This important bipartisan legislation would improve access to mental healthcare for older Americans and alleviate the strain on our nation’s mental health and addiction treatment workforce,” said Katko. “At home in Central New York and in Congress, I’ll continue fighting to ensure individuals and families have access to the care they need.”
Under current regulations, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers and psychiatric nurses are currently recognized to offer covered mental health services under Medicare.
This does not include mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists who have the same training and education but are not able to be reimbursed by Medicare and thus more expensive for seniors.
This bill closes that gap by adding those providers to the list of those accessible to Medicare beneficiaries.
You can click here to read the full text of the bill, first introduced in January 2013.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data, and additional analyzes outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.
This analysis shows that patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have a lower risk of dying and a lower risk of experiencing one or more complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at hospitals receiving a 1-star rating in that procedure or condition.
From 2017 through 2019, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average, 218,785 lives could potentially have been saved and complications in 148,681 patients could potentially have been avoided.*
For the 2021 Report to the Nation, Healthgrades compared hospitals with statistically better than expected performance (5-stars), as a group, to those with statistically worse than expected performance (1-star), as a group, and found from 2017 to 2019, patients treated for sepsis in hospitals with 5-stars for in-hospital mortality have, on average:
– 38.9 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals with 1-star for in-house mortality.
– From 2017 to 2019, patients treated for sepsis in hospitals with 1-star for in-hospital mortality are, on average: 1.6 times more likely to die than if they were treated in hospitals with 5-stars for in-hospital mortality.
The statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2017 through 2019 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
“Hospital quality has never been more important, and consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of researching where they receive care before they visit a hospital for a specific procedure or condition,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer at Healthgrades. “Hospitals that receive a Healthgrades 5-star rating for treatment of sepsis demonstrate exceptional outcomes and their ability to provide quality care for patients.”
“Adventist Health Clear Lake is committed to quality care for all our patients and we are proud of the work our team has done in the treatment of sepsis,” said Colleen Assavapisitkul, patient experience officer at Adventist Health Clear Lake. “We are constantly working to implement best practices and improve our treatment processes and this award is evidence of our success.”
AHCL was also recognized for the following clinical achievements.
Adventist Health Clear Lake has been recognized with four stars by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, based on safety, effective care and patient experience.
CMS awarded four stars to just 1,136 hospitals nationwide. We are proud of our team’s commitment to provide exceptional care for our community and for each family that trusts us for care when they need it most.
Adventist Health Clear Lake is one of 12 medical centers out of 450 in the Premier Hospital Engagement Network to receive CMS recognition as top performer in 6 or more measures in a pilot program, Partnership for Patients.
Cal Hospital Compare recognized Adventist Health Clear Lake for their high performance in maternity care and commitment to safe opioid care for the third year in a row (2017, 2018, 2019).
Adventist Health Clear Lake was 1 of 134 hospitals on the Maternity Honor Roll and 1 of 60 on the Opioid Care Honor Roll. Honor Roll recognition highlights Adventist Health Clear Lake’s work in reducing births by C-section for first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies and programs designed to increased access to addiction treatment for hospitalized patients and reduction of opioid-related deaths.
For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.
Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected).
The complete Healthgrades 2021 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology, can be found at https://partners.healthgrades.com/healthgrades-quality-solutions/healthgrades-quality-awards/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
“Covered California is a critical safety net to help people get quality health care coverage during the surging pandemic and ongoing recession,” said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California. “With our first enrollment deadline coming up this week, we want to encourage anyone who needs coverage to check out their options and sign up so they can start the New Year with protection and peace of mind.”
In response to the pandemic, Covered California extended the enrollment deadline to receive Jan. 1 coverage from Dec. 15 to Wednesday, Dec. 30.
Consumers who sign up by Dec. 30 will need to pay their first bill in order to have their coverage take effect on Jan. 1.
Right now, an estimated 1.2 million Californians are uninsured — even though they are eligible for financial help through Covered California, or they qualify for low-cost or no-cost coverage through Medi-Cal. That includes 139,000 people in Northern California and the Sacramento Valley.
Of those eligible for subsidies, more than half – 650,000 – are believed to be Latino, while 367,000 are Caucasian, 89,000 are Asian, 67,000 are African American and 29,000 are listed as “other.”
Financial help lowers costs for consumers
Roughly nine out of every 10 consumers who enroll through Covered California receive financial assistance — in the form of federal tax credits, state subsidies, or both — which helps make health care more affordable.
California’s state subsidies, which first became available in 2020, are benefiting nearly 600,000 consumers — including more than 41,000 middle-income consumers who had previously been ineligible for financial help because they exceeded the federal income requirements.
“Most of the people who are uninsured either do not know they are eligible for financial assistance, or they have not checked recently to see how affordable quality coverage can be,” Lee said. “No one should wait to sign up, and we are extending the deadline through Dec. 30 to give all of us more time to spread the word and make sure our family and friends have health insurance during this pandemic.”
The latest data shows that, with the combination of federal tax credits and state subsidies, the average consumer receiving financial help paid an average of $127 per month for their coverage (with federal and state assistance reducing their costs by $454 or nearly 80 percent).
Get covered, stay covered
Covered California is urging consumers to “get covered” — not only with quality health insurance coverage, but also with a mask and vaccine when they become available.
Covered California mailed masks to 1.5 million enrollees and asked consumers to take all necessary precautions to help prevent the spread of the virus, while sharing the news about open enrollment.
“Getting covered with a mask will help protect Californians and their families and friends; getting covered with a health plan will help protect people if they get sick,” Lee said. “Covered California helps you get access to some of the best doctors and health care facilities in the country, and provides peace of mind during these challenging times where there is so much uncertainty.”
Shop and compare
Those interested in applying for coverage can explore their options — and find out whether they are eligible for financial help — in just a few minutes by using the Shop and Compare Tool at CoveredCA.com. All they need to do is enter their ZIP code, household income and the ages of those who need coverage to find out which plans are available in their area.
“Do not wait until the last minute, or let Wednesday’s deadline go past, without checking your options,” Lee said. “In only a few minutes at CoveredCA.com, you can see which plans are available in your area and whether you qualify for financial help to bring the price of coverage within reach.”
The state individual mandate penalty will also return for 2021. Consumers who can afford health care coverage, but choose to go without, could pay a penalty when they file their state taxes in 2022. The penalty is administered by California’s Franchise Tax Board, and could be as much as $2,250 for a family of four.
Getting help enrolling
Consumers interested in learning more about their coverage options can:
– Visit www.CoveredCA.com.
– Get free and confidential in-person assistance, in a variety of languages, from a certified enroller.
– Have a certified enroller call them and help them for free.
– Call Covered California at 800-300-1506.