ICYMI: “Access to Virtual Care at Risk for Millions of Arthritis Patients” 

Op-ed in Inside Sources underscores benefits of virtual care for patients with arthritis and need for urgent Congressional action to protect such telehealth flexibilities

In case you missed it, ahead of this Wednesday’s U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee markup of critical telehealth flexibility extension legislation, Alisa Vidulich Casavant, MPH, senior director of policy at the Arthritis Foundation, discusses the benefits of virtual care in increasing access to and ease of care for patients with arthritis nationwide, in an op-ed for Inside Sources’ DC Journal. She emphasizes the need for swift Congressional action to safeguard these pandemic-era Medicare telehealth flexibilities.

As Casavant writes, “Arthritis is often simplified as joint pain or disease. While accurate, this barely conveys the real-life, lasting impact on nearly 60 million adults and hundreds of thousands of children living with a form of arthritis… For many people, seeking regular treatment and visiting specialists in person is painful, difficult, or even impossible. This underscores the urgent need for accessible telehealth options for patients living with one or more of the 100+ forms of arthritis.”

She goes on to discuss the significant shortage of arthritis specialists and telehealth’s role in expanding access for patients with arthritis, “Closing geographic accessibility gaps not only increases access to specialists but decreases travel time as well as time that patients or caretakers are required to take off from work, too.”

Casavant also highlights the recent momentum among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for telehealth protections ahead of the flexibility expiration at the end of this year. “The result has left lawmakers clamoring for action in letters to the Biden administration, legislation to safeguard telehealth access, and several hearings and markups on the topic. Administration officials are also working to maintain telehealth flexibilities in the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) CY2024 Physician Fee Schedule.”

She ends her piece with an urgent call upon Congress, “There is overwhelming bipartisan support to safeguard patient access to telehealth without burdensome restrictions,” she notes. “This is crucial for those living with chronic diseases, particularly arthritis. We cannot afford to let the federal telehealth cliff occur; we must ensure that patients nationwide can continue to confidently rely on virtual care to effectively manage their arthritis.”

Read the full op-ed in Inside Sources HERE and learn more about how Congress can act to permanently protect telehealth access HERE.