PolicyFederal Activity
Patient choice and healthcare equality must become a top priority of our nation’s policymakers. One of the most effective means of influencing policymakers is the collective voice of the ATA membership. When Members of Congress hear directly from you, it is highly impactful and makes a powerful statement. This may influence their policy position or even the details of legislation.
Who is the best advocate for telehealth? ATA members.
Learn more about your legislators, the bills affecting telehealth that are moving through Congress, and how you can to take action. Members of Congress listen to their constituents, particularly those from their home states and districts and those who are knowledgeable of the area they are advocating. Whether it is writing letters in support of legislation, keeping track of bills in Congress, or making a statement on social media, we are here to help.
The ATA supports legislative efforts to expand access to telehealth services, which we believe will improve patient outcomes, patients and provider satisfaction, and lower costs to the healthcare system. The RUSH Act, introduced in the 115th Congress, represents one such effort by expanding access to emergency telehealth for Medicare patients in nursing homes with the goal of reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
more informationIn response to the mandate from H.R. 6, the ATA convened a special member workgroup within its Telebehavioral Health Special Interest Group. The workgroup developed five recommendations for how a special registration process could be structured to enable the safe prescribing of certain controlled substances via telehealth.
more informationGuiding Principles for Federal Policy Priorities
- Eliminate artificial government barriers to telehealth, such as geographic discrimination and restrictions on the use of telehealth in managed care;
- Encourage use of telehealth to reduce health delivery problems, such as provider shortages;
- Prevent new barriers to telehealth, such as clinical practice rules that impose higher standards for telehealth-provided services than in-person care;
- Promote payment and service delivery models to increase consumer and payer value using telemedicine and
- Enhance patient choice, outcomes, convenience, and satisfaction
ATA 2017 Policy Priorities
