Senior man consulting with doctor on video call. .
A bill supporting continued access to telehealth benefits for workers is working its way through Congress, with the House Education and the Workforce Committee the latest body to advance the proposed legislation. The Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act of 2023, which boasts bipartisan support, would allow employers to offer standalone telehealth coverage while helping alleviate provider shortages, increase access to mental health services, lower the cost of care for patients by widening provider networks, and provide timely access to medical care to individuals in rural areas. The bill also would include telehealth access for part-time, seasonal, and contracted workers.
"This legislation will enable millions of American workers who gained access to new telehealth benefits during the pandemic to maintain access to affordable, high-quality care for themselves and their families," Kyle Zebley, senior vice president of public policy for the American Telemedicine Association.
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As BenefitsPRO previously reported, the Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act "would make permanent a waiver created by the CARES Act, which was signed into law during the pandemic in March 2020. It allowed individuals to choose and purchase the use of telehealth services outside their high-deductible health plan without affecting their HSA eligibility. An extension of the waiver was included in the most recent end-of-year omnibus bill, along with other telehealth extension provisions, but is set to expire at the end of 2024. The standalone telehealth benefits would operate similarly to dental and vision benefits, remaining separate from health care plans."
Related: Spending bill extends telehealth coverage for HDHPs through 2024
The bill was sponsored in the House by Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), and in the Senate by Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).
"Telehealth is a lasting solution to the concerns of accessibility and flexibility, and it's quickly become apparent that it's here to stay," Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said in a statement. "The industry has so much room to grow, but only if Congress lets it. The Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act does just that by allowing employers to offer standalone telehealth coverage."
Not all committee members, however, agreed that telehealth is the panacea some lawmakers proclaim it to be.
"Unfortunately, [the act] would fragment care while failing to provide appropriate safeguards for consumers," Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.), said in his opening statement to the committee. "It allows employers to carve out telehealth from their group plans and offer it as a separate, standalone policy that is exempt from important consumer protections under the [Affordable Care Act] and other laws. This includes protections like the prohibition on annual and lifetime limits and the requirement for parity between behavioral health care and medical and surgical care."
Scott also cited concerns that "consumers could be exposed to deceptive marketing practices where workers enroll in telehealth-only plans under the impression that they are receiving far more comprehensive coverage than they actually are."
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