U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today introduced bipartisan legislation to increase the use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring through Medicare while also helping to lower costs for patients and providers.
The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act of 2017 (CONNECT for Health Act) is intended to build on evidence that telehealth and remote patient monitoring improve care and patient satisfaction while reducing hospitalizations.
"This legislation seeks to harness the promise of American technology and innovation to lower costs and improve the quality of care for Medicare patients," Wicker said. "Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring have proven to be cost-effective tools to care for some of Mississippi's most rural populations. I am confident that we can achieve improved access through telehealth for Medicare patients across the country."
"Mississippi is a national leader in demonstrating how telehealth can successfully bring health care to people in their communities, often providing life-saving care that otherwise would not be available. The bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act is intended to use Mississippi's good example to expand telehealth services nationwide," Cochran said. "I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on this important issue."
The CONNECT for Health Care Act was introduced by Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Wicker, Cochran, and Senators Ben Cardin, D-Md., John Thune, R-S.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va.