Representatives Moore, Schneider Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Access to Health Care
WASHINGTON — Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced bipartisan legislation to help health information service providers better connect patients to providers and enhance health care efficiency. The Health Accelerating Consumer's Care by Expediting Self-Scheduling (ACCESS) Act establishes a new safe harbor within the Anti-Kickback Statute to reduce provider barriers to online health care systems while still providing regulatory guardrails to prevent fraud.
“Out-of-date red tape has kneecapped Medicare and Medicaid patients’ ability to effectively use online booking platforms for their health services. These platforms are regulated by ambiguous pre-Internet Age laws that complicate booking for providers and limit innovation and widespread use," Rep. Moore said. "I’m excited to introduce the Health ACCESS Act to clear the way for patients to use 21st-century tools to interact with their health providers.”
“Scheduling a doctor’s appointment should be simple and easy, yet too often people needing care must jump through hoops simply to get through to a live person. Our bipartisan Health ACCESS Act will help bring our nation’s health care system into the 21st century and make it easier for all Americans to find providers and book medical appointments online,” Rep. Schneider said.
“With more patients turning to digital health services than ever before, this bicameral legislation would allow digital health and online appointment booking platforms to work together to enhance the patient experience, appointment efficiency, and provider choice. The Health ACCESS Act proposes necessary amendments to existing statute in order to provide regulatory certainty for digital health tools, aiming to improve access to care while safeguarding patients’ personal health information. ATA Action expresses strong support for this legislation and commends Representatives Blake Moore and Brad Schneider for re-introducing this bill and advancing the modernization of healthcare services for Americans," said Kyle Zebley, Senior Vice President, American Telemedicine Association.
“The Chronic Care Policy Alliance is the leading network of state and regional advocacy organizations advancing public policy that improves the lives of those living with chronic conditions and diseases,” said Liz Helms, Founding Director of CCPA. “CCPA is dedicated to achieving better access to quality, affordable healthcare, and the Health ACCESS Act does just that. This bill will accelerate and improve patients’ access to specialized and high-quality care. We applaud Representatives Panetta, Schnieder, and Moore for leading the effort, and urge their colleagues to support the bill.”
“As the nation’s leading healthcare marketplace, Zocdoc enables patients to search for and instantly book care with nearly 100,000 providers across every specialty, every state and every segment,” said Zocdoc founder and CEO Oliver Kharraz, MD. “By aggregating an unmatched breadth and depth of providers that patients can choose from, all in one place, we empower them and dramatically accelerate their access to care. We support the Health ACCESS Act which will remove barriers to innovation, increase patients' access to care, better utilize a valuable, scarce resource — healthcare providers' time, and create a more efficient healthcare system. We commend Reps. Moore, Schneider, Malliotakis, and Panetta for their leadership on this bill, which will help modernize healthcare — a crucial part of the access imperative."
Background:
The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) governs improper payments for Medicare and Medicaid referrals and offers an important set of measures to prevent fraud and abuse. It prohibits “knowingly and willfully solicit[ing] any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate) … in cash or in kind” for referring patients to Medicare or Medicaid providers for federally reimbursed goods or services.
Because AKS predates the Internet, it is in some ways incompatible with online platforms, placing unnecessary legal obstructions in the way of patients attempting to connect with their health providers.
To have services listed on an online booking platform, providers typically pay the platform for the online listing, which risks triggering AKS if services are provided to federal health beneficiaries. Under current law, there is no distinction between illicit referral practices that incentivize fraud or waste, in contrast to marketing and scheduling services that simply reduce patient barriers to necessary and appropriate care.
Read the full bill here and on Congress.gov.
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