EXCLUSIVE — Bipartisan legislation to expand rural access to specialty care for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries through telehealth is being introduced in both the House and Senate this week.
The Equal Access to Specialty Care Everywhere Act amends the Social Security Act to allow the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to enter into an agreement with a provider network, consisting of nonprofit entities such as rural health clinics and critical access hospitals, to expand telehealth services for those living in rural regions.
In the House, the bill is being sponsored by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR), and in the Senate, the measure is being introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA).
Arrington said in a statement to
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