WASHINGTON, DC (September 13, 2017): Health IT Now – a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers supporting health information technology to improve patient outcomes – wrote to the sponsors of H.R. 3727, the Increasing Telehealth Access in Medicare Act today to express the coalition’s strong support for the measure.

The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Representatives Diane Black (R-TN), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Susan Brooks (R-IN), and Mike Thompson (D-CA), would allow Medicare Advantage plans to include delivery of Medicare Part B services via telehealth in a plan’s basic benefits. The legislation passed through the Ways and Means Committee today on a unanimous vote.

In its letter, Health IT Now praises the sponsors’ “work to leverage technology to deliver care when and where patients need it” and notes that the bill will finally allow a significant portion of Medicare beneficiaries to reap the benefits of telehealth services.

Health IT Now Executive Director Joel white added the following statement after committee passage of the bill:

“Today’s unanimous committee passage of this bipartisan legislation sends a powerful message that Congress is united in embracing the transformative potential of telehealth and in bringing Medicare Advantage into the 21st Century. We thank Representatives Diane Black, Doris Matsui, Susan Brooks, and Mike Thompson for their leadership in this effort and look forward to not only passage of this bill, but to further efforts to integrate telehealth across the Medicare space,” said HITN Executive Director Joel White.

To read Health IT Now’s full letter of support for H.R. 3727, click HERE.

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About Health IT Now: Health IT Now (HITN) is a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers that support incentives to deploy health information technology to improve care, patient outcomes, and to lower costs. Learn more at www.healthitnow.org.