U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act — a bipartisan bill to provide Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services by home health agencies during the COVID-19 emergency — and future public health emergencies. 
 
“Home health serves a vital role in helping our nation’s seniors avoid more costly hospital visits and nursing home stays. The COVID-19 emergency has further underscored the critical importance of home health services and highlighted how these agencies are able to use telehealth to provide skilled care to their patients,” says Collins, chairman of the aging committee, in the press release.
 
“This bipartisan bill would ensure that seniors in Maine and across the country retain access to remote home health services during the COVID-19 emergency and future public health emergencies,” Collins adds.
 
The bipartisan bill has been endorsed by several home health organizations and agencies, including Leading Age, the Visiting Nurse Associations, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, the press release states.
 
For more information on the HEAT Act or to view the press release in full, visit https://bit.ly/32fmILB.