Support Access to Telemental Health Care

Please Support Access to Telemental Health Care As a constituent, I am writing to urge you to support extension of the telehealth flexibilities in Medicare, which are set to expire on March 31, 2025. These flexibilities are crucial to ensuring that millions of Medicare beneficiaries receive desperately needed mental health services. Telehealth has been and continues to serve as a critical tool for providing services to Medicare beneficiaries, especially for those in rural and underserved areas. However, beginning on March 31, 2025, significant barriers to this critical care will take effect. In addition to ending telehealth flexibilities, Medicare will require unnecessary and burdensome in-person care to occur in order to receive telemental health care services. It is imperative that Congress act to remove this barrier, as many beneficiaries who require mental health services would be forced to travel long distances and may not be able to leave their homes at all or without significant assistance. This 6-month in-person requirement creates an unnecessary and stigmatizing burden to care. As such, I urge you to support the extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities as part of any legislative package that moves before March 31. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this request.