WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema cosponsored the bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act, which expands telehealth services permanently for Arizonans and reduces federal spending.
“Permanently expanding telehealth access empowers Arizonans to receive quality health care safely in their homes while reducing federal spending,” said Sinema.
CONNECT for Health Act removes barriers to telehealth coverage by cutting red tape and removing geographic restrictions, while increasing program oversight and integrity, and providing permanent access to health care services after the pandemic.
Current restrictions, such as geographic requirements, only permit beneficiaries to receive telehealth services if they are in certain rural areas and at certain clinical sites, which create barriers to coverage limiting the use of telehealth. Some of these restrictions were waived during the public health emergency. The Sinema-backed legislation ensures Arizonans can continue to access these telehealth services permanently.
Last year, Sinema urged Senate leaders to make temporary telehealth provisions from this legislation permanent. Sinema successfully helped include language from the CONNECT for Health Act in the CARES Act that increased availability of telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries and allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve telehealth programs more quickly.
