On September 13, the full House Ways & Means Committee and the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health passed numerous pieces of bipartisan health care legislation, including several Medicare extenders and technology-related bills as well as components of the Senate’s broader CHRONIC Care package. 

The House Ways & Means Committee passed the Increasing Telehealth Access in Medicare (ITAM) Act of 2017 (H.R. 3727), which would allow telehealth services to be included as a basic Medicare Advantage service rather than supplemental only. In addition, the Ways & Means Committee passed the Comprehensive Operations, Sustainability & Transport Act of 2017 (H.R. 3729), which extends the Medicare add-on payment for ground ambulance transport programs for Medicare beneficiaries and requires annual cost reporting from ground ambulance providers.

Meanwhile, the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee passed the Furthering Access to Stroke Telemedicine (FAST) Act of 2017 (H.R. 1148). The FAST Act would expand telemedicine access for stroke victims under the Medicare program. The Committee also passed H.R. 3263 to extend the Independence at Home demonstration program for an additional two years as well as legislation that would modify the HITECH Act to eliminate the requirement for Meaningful Use standards to become tougher over time, allowing for greater discretion by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). A bill to update Medicare civil and criminal penalties and a bill to allow Medicare coverage of DNA Specimen Provenance Assay (DSPA) prostate cancer treatment also passed. Finally, the Committee also passed bills that would permanently cover speech-generating devices under Medicare, as well as require reports to ensure access to diabetes testing supplies.