Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation designed to extend a key telehealth flexibility beyond a March 31 termination date.

Reps. Carol Miller (R-West Virginia) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) have reintroduced the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act. If enacted, the bill would allow hospices to conduct face-to-face recertification visits via telehealth.

“As patients enter into hospice care, it’s important they can remain in the comfort of their own home as they receive treatment,” Miller said in a statement. “That’s why I am reintroducing the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act to allow hospice providers to use telehealth to conduct the face-to-face visits required for hospice recertification. This bill will make it easier for hospice providers by extending access to telehealth as a way for them to continue offering critical care and to monitor the health of their patients.”

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented telehealth recertifications on an emergency basis during the pandemic. Since then, expiration dates for that flexibility have been extended several times. Most recently, Congress moved the end date to March 31. It was previously set to terminate on Dec. 31, 2024.

The current bill would extend the flexibility through Dec. 31, 2027. It would also create a modifier to collect data on telehealth recertification visits and help ensure appropriate utilization.

“Hospice care exists to provide comfort and compassion during heartbreaking times. Virtual visits make those services accessible for more people, especially those in rural communities, for whom the nearest hospice facility may be far from home,” Golden said in a statement. “This is important, bipartisan work on behalf of families with more than enough on their plates, and I’m determined to see these telehealth provisions become law.”

Telehealth has enabled short-staffed hospice providers to address patient needs more quickly, provide extra layers of support and avoid unnecessary home visits. It has also helped them better reach patients in rural areas and hard-to-access locations.

Many stakeholders want to see the flexibilities become permanent, but to date the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has given no indication that it would do so.

In a March 2024 hearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, then U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said that HHS was willing to make them permanent. However, he said this would require closer collaboration with state governments.

The National Alliance for Care at Home has endorsed the new bill.

“As a physician who spent a large portion of my early career making home visits, I cannot stress enough the importance of extending the [face-to-face] recertification flexibility for expanding access to care and ensuring efficient use of our precious clinical workforce,” said Alliance CEO Dr. Steve Landers. “Further, the Alliance supports the program integrity measures included in this bill to root out bad actors abusing the Medicare Hospice Benefit while still ensuring patient care is not limited.”