Still Time for Congress to Enact Meaningful Health Legislation

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org

Still Time for Congress to Enact Meaningful Health Legislation

Washington, D.C. – The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) is urging Congress to act on several key issues to improve healthcare access and delivery before the year ends. In a letter sent to congressional leaders this morning, HIA is asking lawmakers to:

• Permanently extend telehealth flexibilities

• Digitize and streamline prior authorization processes

• Create a commission to protect health privacy

• Modernize the public health system and improve accountability for public health agencies

“The country has learned many painful lessons over the past two years. Congress would commit legislative malpractice by not acting on important reforms to modernize our health system before they adjourn for the year,” said Joel White, Executive Director of the Health Innovation Alliance. “As we move into the dangerous flu season, our public health system still lacks critical tools to respond to it, rising COVID and RSV cases. During this time, we must improve access to information and remote care for both patients and providers.”

HIA is specifically asking lawmakers to permanently allow patients to continue using health savings accounts to pay for telehealth services (including joining a letter with more than 350 other organizations) and for telehealth services covered under Medicare to remain available. If Congress cannot agree on making telehealth flexibilities permanent, HIA asks for them to be continued through at least the end of 2024.

As a long-time proponent of expanding the use of electronic prior authorization, HIA is calling on Congress to pass legislation implementing a standards-based, real-time approach, ensuring patients can get care faster while relieving providers from burdensome, paper-based tasks.

Additionally, lawmakers should take steps to create a Privacy Commission to provide recommendations on modernizing the use of health data and privacy laws to ensure patient privacy and trust while balancing doctors’ needs to have information at their fingertips to provide care.

HIA is also calling for Congress to pass legislation increasing oversight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including HIA’s edits to the PREVENT Pandemics Act, ensuring that the CDC is not using funds to duplicate work or creating policies and regulations requiring unnecessary or burdensome reporting on state and local public health entities. Rather, the CDC should focus on ensuring data is available when it is needed by front-line health workers, patients, and public health entities.

“The future of healthcare is tied to the availability of data and the advancement of technology. Lawmakers must ensure that legislation and regulations keep pace or patients will pay a steep price,” said White.

Click here to read HIA’s letter.

HIA Weighs-In on MACRA

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org

HIA Weighs-In on MACRA

Washington, D.C. – Today, HIA sent a letter to Representatives Bera, Bucshon, Schrier, Burgess, Blumenauer, Wenstrup, Schneider, and Miller-Meeks with comments on the state of Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).

Our comments focused on:

• Advancing Interoperability and Innovation

• Streamlining Quality Measures and Reporting

• Increasing Provider Participation in Value-based Payment Models

• Long Term Funding

• Incentivizing Remote Care

Click here to read HIA’s letter.

Telehealth Extension Bill a Good Start, But Should be Permanent

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org

Telehealth Extension Bill a Good Start, But Should be Permanent

Washington, D.C. – The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) issued the following statement on today’s passage of the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) applauds lawmakers for embracing the nation’s desire to access care virtually and moving one step closer to making telehealth permanently available to Medicare beneficiaries regardless of their location.

We believe the bill is a good start for Medicare, but more must be done. The two-year extension of telehealth benefits the bill provides for patients is not enough. HIA strongly encourages lawmakers to take the final step to make these provisions permanent. Only by doing this will Congress create certainty that doctors, hospitals, and patients who invest their time and effort into telehealth will continue to be able to access virtual care into the future.”

The CDC Has Failed Americans

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org

The CDC Has Failed Americans
COVID tracking system does not work despite investment of billions of dollars

Washington, D.C. – The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) issued the following statement ahead of today’s United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing titled “An Update on the Ongoing Federal Response to COVID-19: Current Status and Future Planning.”

“Congress spent billions of dollars upgrading the CDC’s COVID tracking systems, and the CDC has nothing to show for it. There is zero transparency into what the CDC is doing, with the Government Accountability Office finding there are few controls or metrics in place to ensure taxpayers get a system that works to track infections, hospitalizations, and where supplies and vaccines are needed. This is more shocking considering the law requiring a modern CDC data system was enacted more than 15 years ago,” said Joel White, Executive Director, Health Innovation Alliance. “Congressional oversight has been unsuccessful in shaming CDC leadership into progress. Congress should take control and move surveillance out of the CDC to an independent data agency. The CDC has failed to do its job and should be relieved of its duties.”

Draft Privacy Bill Misses the Mark: National Framework is Needed To Work for Patients, not Enrich Trial Lawyers

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org

Washington, D.C. – The Health Innovation Alliance released the following statement on the discussion draft privacy bill put forward by Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers of the House Energy and Commerce Committee:

“We appreciate the Chair and Ranking Members' effort to tackle a difficult and complex issue as consumer and patient privacy. This discussion draft further illustrates why HIPAA needs to be updated and modernized. Even with a HIPAA ‘carve out,’ the draft would still further complicate health privacy laws in the United States. Rather than setting a clear, universal law of the land that works for patients, this bill leaves every state privacy law intact, adding yet another layer to the patchwork of laws," said Brett Meeks, Vice President of the Health Innovation Alliance. "By including a new standard for de-identified data that conflicts with the current HIPAA standard, the bill would stop medical research in its tracks. Adding a new private right of action is simply a gift to the trial bar that will flood the courts and shut down companies.

The right path is for Congress to pass the bipartisan Health Data Use and Privacy Commission Act to provide detailed recommendations to Congress on how best to modernize health data and privacy laws."

Health Innovation Alliance works to create value for patients by transforming care, improving connectivity, enhancing patient access, and streamlining the regulatory process. In a recently published report, HIA identified solutions to improving and increasing interoperability in health care by 2030. Click here to learn more.