This bill protects access to telehealth services for people using Medicare. It ensures that patients can continue to receive care remotely, which is important for convenience and health safety.
Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill permanently (1) removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i. e., the location of the beneficiary), (2) allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services, (3) allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i. e., the location of the health care practitioner), and (4) expands coverage to include audio-only services for evaluation and management and behavioral health services.