After years of federal controversy and conjecture, the White House announced Monday that the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies (PHE) will end on May 11. The official announcement is a significant signal of the end of the pandemic’s crisis phase. The end of the emergencies will halt a wide-ranging set of eased regulations established at the pandemic’s outset to bolster the country’s response. Although predictions had been that the end of the PHE would be in April, the several weeks of added time will help prepare the country for several far-reaching, post-COVID repercussions. It will halt a wide-ranging set of eased regulations established at the pandemic’s outset to bolster the country’s response. The federal end of the PHE also has reimbursement repercussions that have set precedents for the telehealth future.
Dauntingly referred to as the “telehealth cliff” for more than a year, the official closing of the COVID PHE signals changes that leave millions of stakeholders with fewer healthcare benefits – or none at all. Now that a final COVID PHE date has been announced at the federal level, clinicians can prepare themselves for what is sure to be a sea change compared to pre-COVID reimbursement rates. State legislatures will most likely follow suit with their heightened changes now that the federal decision has been made. The article below outlines Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement provisions that behavioral telehealth clinicians can expect in the near-to-mid range. As noted by Telehealth.org, other repercussions concerning licensure and HIPAA-compliance enforcement also will take immediate effect with the end of the PHE.
Medicare Telehealth
Both federal and state legislative groups have passed several groundbreaking behavioral telehealth regulations enacted in January 2023 and will endure permanently. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 ensures a 151-day extension period beyond the end of the…