American College of Rheumatology asks CMS to extend telehealth flexibilities through 2024
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Key takeaways:
- ACR has requested that CMS extend flexible telehealth policies through 2024.
- The ACR also seeks to forgo a proposed 3.34% cut in its proposed rule for the 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule.
The American College of Rheumatology has called on CMS to extend current telehealth flexibilities — initiated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — through 2024, according to a press release.
In comments submitted Sept. 11 to CMS in response to its calendar year 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule and quality payment program, the ACR stated it supported the proposed continuation of policies expanding the use of telehealth, many of which had been implemented to maintain access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended through 2024 via an omnibus spending bill dubbed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.
“ACR firmly believes a more comprehensive telehealth service option will be a permanent fixture in the future of healthcare, and given that, discussions should continue to ensure telehealth services provide a supplemental method of care rather than a substitute for in-person care,” read a statement from the ACR.
Additionally, the ACR requested that CMS forgo its proposed 3.34% conversion factor decrease found in the 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule. According to the ACR, such a decrease would “further damage an already strained payment system and impact financial solvency and stability of health care practices.”
The comment also included a note that ACR members are strongly in favor of reforming the Medicare reimbursement program to include a new add-on code — G221 — which would “allow for a more accurate representation of the medical decision-making and resources needed to provide the best and most appropriate treatment for our patients,” the group stated.
According to the ACR, this code would better recognize clinicians’ “inherent resource costs” when longitudinally managing a patient’s overall health or treating a patient’s single, serious or complex chronic disease when billing for office or outpatient evaluation and management.
“Medicare physician payments must reflect the impact of the broader economy on physician practices and ensure appropriate reimbursement for our members and the important care services they provide,” ACR President Douglas White, MD, PhD, said in the release. “We appreciate this opportunity to comment on the proposed rule and look forward to working with CMS on future policies that ensure patients with rheumatic diseases continue to have access to quality rheumatologic care.”
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