New Op-Ed in Morning Consult on Telehealth from Shelley Lyford, President and CEO of West Health

It took a public health emergency to temporarily lift the regulatory barriers that have stifled the growth of telehealth in this country. Now, Congress must act and take the next step, which is to legislate telehealth into the mainstream of medicine and into the outstretched arms of millions of Americans who desperately need it, COVID-19 pandemic or not.

At least 30 U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle are on board: Last week, they wrote to Senate leadership calling on Congress to “expand access to telehealth services on a permanent basis so that telehealth remains an option for all Medicare beneficiaries both now and after the pandemic. Doing so would assure patients that their care will not be interrupted when the pandemic ends. It would also provide certainty to healthcare providers that the costs to prepare for and use telehealth would be a sound long-term investment.” Read more…