NBC News
For Kaye Peterson, 67, the expansion of Medicare Telesalud’s coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic was a blessing.
Peterson, who has type 1 diabetes and lives in an assisted residence, no longer drives, so it depends on his family when he needs face -to -face appointments with specialists who are about an hour from his home in Lebanon, Kentucky. But for primary routine care, you simply use your iPhone.
It is possible that this is not possible in the near future. On March 31, the “flexibilities” of Medicare Telesalud established during the Covid-19 Pandemic expires. Recent publications on social networks, including the one that alerted Peterson from change, have caused a protest of the beneficiaries and their families that depend on the service.
“I am in a care center full of people in wheelchairs and oxygen,” Peterson said. “It is a matter of common sense to expand. ”
Health defenders say that telemedicine options that are now in danger are especially important for advanced age adults who are confined at home or, like Peterson, live in rural communities away from the offices of their doctors.
The current flexibilities were established when Congress raised the restrictions in March 2020 under the presidency of Donald Trump and were extended several times under the presidency of Joe Biden.
If the Congress does not act, on April 1 the previous norms will be restored to a large extent, which means that most Telesalud appointments will only be covered if they are carried out in person in rural medical centers.
There will be exceptions for certain services, such as mental health care and some visits for dialysis treatments at home.
An error could have ramifications for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. Approximately 13% of the almost 22 million people with traditional coverage received a Telesalud service between October and December 2023.
Dr. Cecil Bennett, a family doctor in Newnan, Georgia, on the outskirts of Atlanta, estimates that half of their clinic’s patients are in Medicare. Some already have scheduled telesalud appointments months in advance. Often use the service to provide simple information, such as laboratory results, and fears that some patients can lose necessary quotes if they require a visit in person, which would allow their conditions to get worse.
“I have no doubt that older people They will suffer if this service disappears“, said.
In Mississippi, Dr. Saurabh Chandra, director of Telesalud of the Medical Center of the University of Mississippi, commented that flexibilities can mean the difference between older adults have a virtual appointment at 2:00 am during an intense flu season or that they are forced to travel long distances up to an emergency room.
“This state is made for the Telesalud,” he said.
While Congress faces a proposal from the House of Representatives led by the Republican Party that could cut the expense of Medicaid, the defenders of these services have the hope that the Telesalud offered through Medicare will remain a bipartisan cause.
“The federal government does things at the last minute,” said Kyle Zebley, Senior Vice President of Public Policy of the American Telemedicine Association.
“We have a wonderful place in bipartisanship. Now we are very divided, very polarized,” he said. “We will continue working to do everything possible to maintain that.”
However, the Telesalud It has not been immune to political crossfire.
What initially began as an extension of two years for the program was reduced to three months during the fight last December to avoid a government closure, after the then elected president Donald Trump and Elon Musk press to end a broader bill of expenses.
Some members of the Congress expect to dissipate the concerns of advanced adults and make these services permanent.
In a statement to NBC News, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, Democrat of Delaware, who jointly presented a bipartisan bill to consolidate those services when she was part of the House of Representatives, described them as “vital”, “especially for those in rural and unattended communities and those with transport barriers”, and said he was still fighting permanent protections.
Representative RO Khanna, a Democrat of California, whose viral publications on social networks called attention to the imminent deadline, said he plans to present similar legislation.
“What is the reason for this, apart from make life more difficult for many older people? “Khanna said on a Twitter post.
With the fate of the still uncertain telesalud, Bennett is waiting to see if the quotes he has reserved can take place.
“I really hope that Congress acts quickly,” Bennett said. “I know they postpone things, but I don’t care as they continue to delay them (if they are maintained).”
