On May 16, 2023, Representative Doris Matsui (D-California) and Representative Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) reintroduced their key telehealth legislation, the Telemental Health Care Access Act. This bill seeks to accomplish two key goals in the telehealth arena:
- it would repeal Medicare’s in-person visit requirement that is set to go into effect on January 1, 2025; and
- it would allow Medicare beneficiaries receiving behavioral health services to continue receiving those services via telehealth from their own homes.
The press release from Matsui’s officeopens in new window announcing the introduction of this bill features a quote from APA CEO Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD:
“Telehealth continues to demonstrate its value in expanding access to behavioral health services in rural and other underserved areas…Clinicians agree that telehealth is here to stay, as 96% of psychological practitioners who are already using telehealth say they intend to continue offering such services after the end of the covid-19 public health emergency. This legislation is critical to ensuring that Medicare providers can continue offering these services to the same degree. We applaud Representative Matsui for her leadership on telehealth and urge Congress to pass the Telemental Health Care Access Act.”
APA advocacy staff will continue to work with these offices to secure companion legislation in the Senate and will continue to advocate for a committee markup and floor vote on this legislation during the 118th Congress.
For more information, contact Andrew Strickland.