![]() ![]() The case against: Some Democrats, including House Education and the Workforce Committee ranking member Bobby Scott of Virginia, would prefer that companies feel pressure to offer comprehensive insurance to all of their workers and see the telehealth plans as another excuse not to. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), say the legislation would expand access to health care for workers who don’t currently have insurance – the Affordable Care Act requires large employers to offer insurance, but only to full-time workers – and as a supplemental benefit to fully insured employees, akin to vision or dental coverage. The case for: Advocates of the bill like its lead sponsor, Rep. The Trump administration allowed employers to offer the telehealth plans as a tax-free benefit in the hopes of spurring more companies to give part-time and seasonal workers not eligible for their health insurance a cheaper way to see a doctor while Covid was spreading.īut that provision expired when the Covid public health emergency ended and now House Republicans, with some Democratic supporters, are pushing legislation that would allow employers to offer the plans permanently. | Rod Lamkey/AP Photoĭemocrats are divided over whether it makes sense to give employers an incentive to offer standalone telehealth plans separate from group health insurance. Scott's not keen on providing a tax break for standalone telehealth plans. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is working on legislation that could set minimum standards for health care organizations to protect patient data. “Ransomware and cybersecurity threats are top of mind for these often less well-resourced institutions,” Ossoff added.īackdrop: Congress has zeroed in on cybersecurity in health care. Rural hospitals often lack resources and lag behind in cybersecurity, and the industry faces a cyber workforce shortage. “I don’t want to see that anymore,” said Hawley. Why it matters: Rural hospitals are often “soft targets” for hackers, Hawley said, pointing to the recent ransomware attack on an Illinois facility that contributed to its decision to close. It would also require CISA, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, to make educational materials for rural hospitals to help them train staff on cybersecurity. How so? The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesdy advanced a bill from Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in cooperation with the panel’s chair, Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), to require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to create a “comprehensive” workforce development plan for rural hospital cybersecurity. Odd bedfellows alliances are working on Capitol Hill to respond. Hackers have targeted rural hospitals less able to combat cyberthreats, causing patient harm and costing money the facilities can ill afford to lose. They’re professional athletes - they’re just doing something different … It’s really important for them to get the best advice quickly.” He points to UPS as a client with a strong use case for ViewFi. Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, which sells e-health platforms to large- and mid-sized employers, hopes that Congress will make permanent a law that currently allows high-deductible health plans to cover virtual care before patients reach their deductibles. “If we can create a cheaper access point that’s more convenient … we should try to do that without waiting around for permission.” “We can be proactive about actually trying to figure out solutions,” Roddick said. Roddick echoes the concerns of many in the telehealth industry about the patchwork system of state licensure that makes it more difficult for providers to scale and deliver care across state lines.īut he’s not overly concerned with what’s going on with regulation and in Washington. How’s it going? The pandemic fueled an explosion in telehealth investment and Roddick’s company recently struck a deal with Transcarent, a digital health firm valued at more than $1.6 billion, to bring the technology to its customers. So Roddick started ViewFi, a company with a telehealth platform that uses artificial intelligence-enabled motion-detecting technology to better track body movement, to help doctors make more accurate diagnoses. “That’s someone who had access to the best care and still kind of had some speed bumps,” Roddick told Ben. ![]() Two of his surgeon friends griped about how difficult it was to diagnose people over FaceTime, which inspired Roddick to look for a solution.Īs a player, Roddick would have to travel long distances for care - often to be diagnosed with relatively minor ailments. How’s that? In the pandemic’s early months, Roddick would get together on Zoom with pals over a glass of wine. 1 tennis player Andy Roddick founded a telehealth company. Others binged “Tiger King.”įormer world No. ![]() Some people turned to baking during the pandemic. After dominating tennis, Andy Roddick wants a second act in telehealth. ![]()
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