Lawmakers Seek Right Balance for Permanent Telehealth Rules

Temporary telehealth policies implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic must be fine-tuned before regulations around online care can be permanently relaxed, lawmakers and community leaders say.

Lawmakers, physicians, and patient advocates at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Wednesday addressed steps that they said will need to be taken so the health-care industry’s transition into a hybrid model of care doesn’t come with collateral damage.

The hearing included 15 legislative proposals that aim to enshrine different waiver flexibilities set to expire by the end of this year.

Those flexibilities include the ability for online health services to be provided by ...