On June 24, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) President Anna McMaster, MD, wrote to 21 health insuring corporations that operate in the state of Ohio, asking that expansion of telehealth and access to care with a patient’s family physician and usual source of care be continued though the Public Health Emergency (PHE) or at least through Thursday, December 31, 2020.
The letter asks for these specific things:
- Allow telehealth flexibilities to remain in place through the entirety of the PHE and beyond.
- Adopt Medicare’s telehealth flexibilities for consistency and alignment to ease administrative burden for practices.
- Parity for all telehealth visits through the PHE or at least through Thursday, December 31, 2020.
- Continued telehealth access through cost-sharing waivers for patients with their primary care physician.
- Adoption of telehealth policies that are integrated into a patient’s usual source of primary care, rather than restricting telehealth access to designated telehealth partners.
- Adopt alternative payment models to fund primary care.
- Recognize that telehealth is a part of many methods to deliver care, not as a standalone modality.