Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) is applauding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for recent efforts to expand telehealth services for recipients. 50 lawmakers, including Balderson, sent a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma supporting a proposed rule change that would expand telehealth services, pushing for the rule to be adopted permanently.

“The adoption of telehealth services comes with countless benefits, particularly for rural Americans with limited access to health care, like many Ohioans in my district,” said Balderson. “With so many Ohioans successfully using telehealth services during the ongoing pandemic, there’s no reason Congress shouldn’t empower providers to continue offering this critical platform for care.”

“Not only do these services help to facilitate public health mitigation strategies by increasing social distancing, but these services allow patients to maintain continuity of care to help avoid additional negative consequences from delayed preventative, chronic, or routine care,” the lawmakers wrote. “Further, telehealth services can help to increase participation for those who are medically or socially vulnerable, those who do not have ready access to providers, and those for which an in-person visit is not practical or feasible.”

Read the full letter.

BACKGROUND

Balderson has championed the expansion of telehealth services for Ohioans, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. His bipartisan, bicameral KEEP Telehealth Options Act awaits consideration in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Previously, CMS issued new guidelines to expand telehealth services through certain types of providers following Balderson’s introduction of other bipartisan legislation.

Balderson also recently penned an opinion editorial on the importance of the permanent expansion of telehealth services for all Americans, including those Balderson represents in Ohio’s 12^th Congressional District.

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