Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is aiming for a Sept. 18 markup of a two-year extension of pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities, sources say.
Why it matters: Getting the bill out of the full committee would be the final procedural hurdle for the extension to be considered for an end-of-year health package, or even as a standalone bill.
- The two-year extension would maintain many Medicare telehealth flexibilities through the end of 2026.
- These include access to telehealth services in any geographic area and enabling patients to see a provider via telehealth instead of traveling to a health care facility.
Catch up quick: Energy and Commerce canceled a markup of the extension in June amid unrelated disagreements about Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers' tech privacy bill.
- The telehealth two-year extension was unanimously approved out of the E&C health subcommittee in May. The measure due to be taken up is expected to be unchanged.
- House Ways and Means similarly approved a two-year extension out of the full committee in May in a unanimous vote.
- Both committees' bills use PBM reforms around transparency and delinking to help offset the cost of the package.
