The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) is the new bipartisan regulation signed by the US Congress in 2021. This initiative aims to make telehealth regulation flexibilities permanent and expand telehealth coverage through Medicaid. More importantly, the Act contains the following propositions aimed at simplifying the reimbursement process for telemedicine services:
• Remove geographic restrictions and other barriers on telehealth services
• Expand “originating sites” to include the home and other places of service
• Make permanent a provision to allow health centers and rural health clinics (RHCs) to provide telehealth services
• Make permanent a provision that gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) authority to waive telehealth restrictions
• Allow waiver of telehealth restrictions during a public health emergency (PHE)
The CONNECT for Health Act of 2021 expands access to telehealth and supports health care providers and beneficiaries in utilizing and analyzing it. The act expands coverage of Medicare telehealth services and makes some COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, among other provisions.
