Cassidy, Smith, Cardin, Thune introduce bill to remove barriers to Telemental Health Care

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D., (R-LA), Tina Smith (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the bipartisan Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2021 to remove barriers to telemental health services for Medicare beneficiaries.
“Over the pandemic, we’ve seen an increased need for telehealth services, whether it’s for substance use disorders, physical ailments or mental health issues,” Cassidy said in a news release from his office. “Medicare patients deserve direct access to telemental health services, and this bill removes barriers to make this possible.”
Specifically, the bill removes the statutory requirement that Medicare beneficiaries be seen in person within six months of being treated for mental health services through telehealth. Last year’s end-of-year package permanently expanded access for Medicare patients to be treated in their home and other sites for mental health services, but unfortunately put in place an arbitrary requirement that would require the patient to be seen in-person before they could receive telemental services.
The Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2021 eliminates this in-person requirement so patients can directly access mental health services via telehealth.
This bill is consistent with how substance use disorder, or SUD, telehealth services are covered under Medicare — passed as part of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act in 2018, which eliminated certain requirements for SUD services so patients can access treatment from their home through telehealth.
“Our highest praise and gratitude to Senators Cassidy, Smith, Cardin and Thune for their steady leadership and clear priority to bring telehealth services to the American people, including those in rural and underserved communities,” American Tele-medice Association CEO Ann Mond Johnson said in the news release. “The Telemental Health Care Access Act is a critical piece of legislation that would repeal the telemental health in-person requirement. Passing this legislation and ensuring this unnecessary requirement is not repeated for other services, along with other pieces of legislation that make the telehealth waivers permanent, could not be a higher priority for the ATA and our members,”
“The ATA is very proud to collaborate with our Senate champions and enthusiastically endorse this important bill,” Johnson added.
Laurel Stine, senior vice president, Public Policy of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said in the news release: “The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention commends Senators Bill Cassidy, Tina Smith, Ben Cardin and John Thune for ensuring expansions of telemental health, post the pandemic, work to encourage help-seeking for older adults, rather than create barriers to timely mental health care. One of the leading causes of suicide among older adults is depression, and early identification and effective treatment is paramount in saving lives.”