The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved $41.98 million for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the increased adoption of telehealth services, but that positive development for technology-delivered services comes with both benefits and community equity challenges, Federal leaders said this week.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is leading a bipartisan group of 49 members of Congress urging Senate and House leadership to include in end-of-year legislation language to make permanent Medicare telehealth expansions that were enacted earlier this year.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order August 3 to make COVID-19 era changes to telehealth – such as telehealth coverage in Medicare programs and investments in telecommunications infrastructure – permanent after the pandemic ends.

Reps. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Sens. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., Doug Jones, D-Ala., introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress June 11 to invest $50 million in rural telehealth initiatives amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered nearly every aspect of American life, but changes to the way students learn and adults work has presented unique challenges to the U.S. broadband network.

The American Telemedicine Association released its 2017 Telemedicine Executive Leadership Survey results, finding that more than 83 percent of executives say they are likely to invest in telehealth this year.

The RAND Corporation released a study on the costs of direct-to-consumer telehealth services. The study found that direct-to-consumer telehealth may actually drive up medical spending rather than reduce costs, due to the increased convenience.

The American Telemedicine Association’s 2016 report card on state telemental telehealth policies was released earlier this month, and gave eight states an A, but only one state, Colorado, an F. The report identified existing policy barriers that impede telemental health and patient access to quality health care services. Each state was graded A, B, C, […]

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has expanded Medicaid coverage to include telerehab. Telemedicine is defined as the delivery of health care services while the patient is at one site, and the licensed health provider is at another, distant site.  The law also covers some rehabilitation services that are typically conducted face to face. Lawmakers […]