Telesalud’s coverage of the era of the Pandemic era could end on March 31 if Congress does not intervene

On March that dawns cold and snowy, or warmer and more muddy, with poor driving conditions on rural roads, meeting with a doctor by phone or video call can be especially useful for vermontent.

“Help with the access problems we experience,” said Kathy Benoit, CEO of Notch, a federally qualified health center that serves Franklin and Grand Isle counties. “We are very far from Burlington, here in Richford. So, for some people, they cannot obtain specialized attention if they had to transport there. ”

Of patients with notches that use virtual visits, not only with specialists, but also for follow -ups and drug controls, for annual well -being controls, for days of bad weather, for appointments outside the regular commercial hours, Benoit said that about 700 of them have Medicare as their only medical insurance.

But if Congress does nothing at the end of the month, those patients with notch, more Thousands of other vermonants and millions of Americans in Medicare could It loses almost all its coverage for telesalud visits.

“There would be no refund mechanism,” Benoit said. “So that would be unfortunate.”

A photo of a woman with a gray shirt with long and brown hair, sitting in front of a desk and a paint of a farm field. — Kathy Benoit is the executive director of the Health Center of Northern Tier, or notch. Here he sits for a portrait in his Richford office.

The current Medicare refund mechanism began during the pandemic, when they began the Federal Health Insurance Program for people over 65 years and for people with disabilities offering a greater scope of telesalud coverage. Congress extended that Pandemic era coverage once, in December 2024.

The extension, however, only lasts until March 31, 2025. That is unless legislators approve Another extension – That the republican leaders of the camera are proposing As part of a continuous resolution to finance the government until September 30, 2025, or Legislation as “Connect for Health” Law “that would make the coverage of the extended Medicare Telesalud be permanent.

A spokesman for Senator Peter Welch wrote in an email that would advocate the last bill.

The representative Becca Balint made a similar commitment last week.

“I will work tirelessly to ensure that the Telesalud can remain accessible to all vermontent,” he wrote in a statement. “I understand how worried the vermonants are for their access to the Telesalud.”

State Law It requires private insurers to cover Telesalud servicesand Vermont Medicaid also reimbursed for those services.

Vermonters who access Telesalud services through Medicare are concerned about potential change, and are reluctant to speak publicly, according to Mel Houser, the executive director of all brains belongs VT. The Community Health Organization serves neurodivergente Vermonters, including patients who have a Long Covid-19 and are in bed.

“The experience of many of our patients who depend on the survival system, either Medicare, Medicaid, SSDI, etc., is that there is a question to talk because it does not feel safe,” Houser wrote in a text message. “The reality is that they can be removed in which they depend on the basic needs in a penny.”

Greg Marchadon, state director of Vermont of AARP, said that what seems to be happening is that the coverage of the Medicare Telesalud is catching into the “tide of information” that leaves Washington.

“So it’s problematic and worrying,” he said. “And we hope Congress will do it together.”

House legislators They are expected to vote for the continuous resolution bill on Tuesday.

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