President Joe Biden's pick to be the next Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) chief hopes to make pandemic-era Medicare Advantage program telehealth rule changes permanent.
The CMS administrator nominee, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, talked about Medicare Advantage program rules Thursday, at a cordial Senate Finance Committee hearing on her nomination.
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, said that CMS has given Medicare Advantage plan providers flexibility they can use to set up telehealth services, and even to send enrollees telehealth equipment.
"Why do we have to stop this when the pandemic ends?" Crapo asked.
Brooks-LaSure said she agrees on the need to support telehealth programs.
"Telehealth has been discussed for more than a decade, and now we've been able to see what value it brings," Brooks-LaSure said.
Brooks-LaSure's brother is a psychologist, and she said her brother has used telehealth to see more patients.
She said she would work with Congress to get the changes needed to make current, temporary Medicare Advantage program rules permanent.
