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The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is calling on Congress to permanently lift restrictions that have allowed unfettered delivery of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, which experts say has been a boon to patients and physicians alike.
"We ask Congress to extend the telehealth waiver authority under COVID-19 beyond the emergency and to study its impact while doing so," said APA President Jeffrey Geller, MD, in a May 27 video briefing with congressional staff and reporters.
The APA is also seeking to make permanent certain waivers granted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 30, including elimination of geographic restrictions on behavioral health and allowing patients be seen at home, said Geller.
The APA is also asking for the elimination of the rule that requires clinicians to have an initial face-to-face meeting with patients before they can prescribe controlled substances, Geller said. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) waived that requirement, known as the Ryan Haight Act, on March 17 for the duration of the national emergency.
Telemedicine has supporters on both sides of the aisle in Congress, including Rep. Paul Tonko (D-New York) who said at the APA briefing he would fight to make the waivers permanent.
