1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Before the end of the year, it's of utmost importance that Congress act to extend Medicare payments for telehealth. As a physician and one of your constituents, I know firsthand the importance of telehealth, especially to our seniors. They often have reduced mobility and an increased need for medical care with lots of visits. So, placing the burden on them to attend all these appointments in person is inhumane. Much of medicine can be done without a physical exam or need to be in person with someone, especially for care of chronic diseases. It is especially helpful for our underserved patients, those who don't have cars and have to take the train and a bus and a half mile walk just to get to clinic. There is a much lower no-show rate for these patient visits when a patient can change it to telemedicine if they don't have transportation to get to the clinic or don't have childcare and need to stay home instead of dressing their kids to their medical visits. And lastly, in full transparency, telemedicine prevents us medical providers from experiencing so much burnout, whether because I get to stay home longer in the morning and get off earlier in the evening to see my kids or because I'm not stuck in traffic too and from work 5 days a week, telemedicine benefits all. Please extend Medicare payments for telemedicine, for will these reasons. God bless and thank you for your service.