ministrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency to fix onsistences in the Medicare program around the length of time virtual cardiac and pulmonary abilitation services are available. example, pulmonary rehabilitation services as part of Medicare's comprehensive benefit nished in the physician office or clinic setting are covered as a telehealth service through cember 31, 2023. Yet, the same pulmonary rehabilitation services furnished in the hospital tpatient setting, which account for 98% of programs and can be provided via real-time, two-way dio/visual communications technologies (e.g., not considered telehealth), expire at the end of the blic health emergency (PHE), currently scheduled to end April 16, 2022. Because the PHE mus extended every 90 days to allow current waivers to remain in place, when it might finally end ds uncertainty to the lives of vulnerable patients who have found relief in being able to stay in eir homes to receive pulmonary rehabilitation services. ce most programs are in the hospital outpatient setting, this inconsistency based on the type of tting, if not corrected, will lead to the loss of services that have been critical to Medicare neficiaries during the pandemic and have immense potential beyond the current situation. In ort, the ability to produce additional evidence of the clinical benefits of virtual delivery in this tting will be lost.
ministrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency to fix onsistences in the Medicare program around the length of time virtual cardiac and pulmonary abilitation services are available. example, pulmonary rehabilitation services as part of Medicare's comprehensive benefit nished in the physician office or clinic setting are covered as a telehealth service through cember 31, 2023. Yet, the same pulmonary rehabilitation services furnished in the hospital tpatient setting, which account for 98% of programs and can be provided via real-time, two-way dio/visual communications technologies (e.g., not considered telehealth), expire at the end of the blic health emergency (PHE), currently scheduled to end April 16, 2022. Because the PHE mus extended every 90 days to allow current waivers to remain in place, when it might finally end ds uncertainty to the lives of vulnerable patients who have found relief in being able to stay in eir homes to receive pulmonary rehabilitation services. ce most programs are in the hospital outpatient setting, this inconsistency based on the type of tting, if not corrected, will lead to the loss of services that have been critical to Medicare neficiaries during the pandemic and have immense potential beyond the current situation. In ort, the ability to produce additional evidence of the clinical benefits of virtual delivery in this tting will be lost.
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Transcribed Image Text:Recently, the AARC worked with the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) in drafting a letter to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency to fix inconsistencies in the Medicare program around the length of time virtual cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services are available.
For example, pulmonary rehabilitation services as part of Medicare’s comprehensive benefit furnished in the physician office or clinic setting are covered as a telehealth service through December 31, 2023. Yet, the same pulmonary rehabilitation services furnished in the hospital outpatient setting, which account for 98% of programs and can be provided via real-time, two-way audio/visual communications technologies (e.g., not considered telehealth), expire at the end of the public health emergency (PHE), currently scheduled to end April 16, 2022. Because the PHE must be extended every 90 days to allow current waivers to remain in place, when it might finally end adds uncertainty to the lives of vulnerable patients who have found relief in being able to stay in their homes to receive pulmonary rehabilitation services.
Since most programs are in the hospital outpatient setting, this inconsistency based on the type of setting, if not corrected, will lead to the loss of services that have been critical to Medicare beneficiaries during the pandemic and have immense potential beyond the current situation. In short, the ability to produce additional evidence of the clinical benefits of virtual delivery in this setting will be lost.
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