WITH MEDICARE’S TELEHEALTH SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR THOUSANDS OF HUDSON VALLEY SENIORS IN LIMBO, SCHUMER PUSHES AT SUN RIVER HEALTH MONTICELLO TO SAVE THIS LIFELINE FOR HEALTHCARE CRITICAL TO OUR RURAL AREAS AND AVOID TELEHEALTH CLIFF

During The Pandemic, Telehealth Services Were Able To Finally Be Reimbursed By Medicare, Helping Provide Convenient Access To High-Quality Health Care For Rural Communities In Hudson Valley And Across The Country – But That Program Is Set To Expire December 31^st Without Congressional Action

Schumer Says We Can’t Go Over The Telehealth Cliff And Have This Lifeline For Healthcare Cut Off For ~18,000 Seniors In Sullivan County, And Thousands More Across HV & America; Senator Will Push To Extend This Critical Medicare Program And Keep Seniors Connected To Their Doctors & Care

Schumer: Telehealth Needs To Be Available, Affordable & Accessible For All In Hudson Valley & Across America

Standing at Sun River Health in Sullivan County, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer launched his push to protect Medicare’s telehealth program, which could expire in just two months without Congressional action. 

Schumer said it is critical we avoid the upcoming telehealth cliff for Hudson Valley seniors, which is especially important to rural areas in Sullivan County, to maintain this vital lifeline for accessible healthcare. 

“Telehealth services are essential in places like Sullivan County; it is a lifeline for our rural areas and seniors who can’t easily travel to the doctor for getting the healthcare they need and we can’t let it expire. That’s why I’m launching a push to avoid the telehealth cliff and save this lifeline for hundreds of thousands of seniors in the Hudson Valley,” said Senator Schumer. “We saw telehealth surge in use during the pandemic, and we should make sure that access to your doctor is easy as picking up your phone. I was proud to help Medicare expand telehealth services during the pandemic, but we need to act quickly to preserve this program and ensure this lifeline isn’t cut off for our seniors come 2025.”

“Whether you are in New York City or Monticello, telehealth helps improve accessibility, affordability and makes our hospitals stronger by reducing wait times and making sure patients can get the care they need, and we have seen that right here in Monticello. It makes it so patients can receive timely care, even when they can’t physically make it to the doctor’s office,” added Schumer.

Schumer indicated that Sullivan County is a recognized healthcare desert, and most residents live over 30 minutes away from a healthcare center. In addition, over half of the county’s residents are over the age of 60, and the poverty rate is higher in Sullivan than the state average. Compounded, those factors create challenges in ensuring that residents can receive adequate care to meet their healthcare needs.

Schumer explained that during the pandemic, the federal government declared a public health emergency that gave the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) flexibility to reimburse patients for expenses related to telehealth services and allowed providers to deliver audio-only health care services. 

Schumer added, “This helped thousands of seniors in rural areas across NY when the closest doctor is hours away access critical health care services. Telehealth is one of the biggest tools for supporting rural New York communities that face shortages of doctors. Especially for seniors who can have difficulty going to a doctor’s office due to mobility challenges, telehealth lets people get routine care without having to worry about how to get to the doctor’s office.”

When the public health emergency officially ended last year, Schumer led efforts to pass legislation to extend those flexibilities that allowed CMS to cover telehealth appointments. However, that legislative authority will expire on December 31^st, 2024 without Congressional action. This means that seniors could lose coverage for telehealth appointments, doctors could no longer provide audio-only telehealth services, and fewer providers will be able to receive reimbursement for telehealth services.

Schumer is now pushing to include an extension in the end of year legislation and try to make telehealth services a permanent and accessible option for all on Medicare.

"Attracting healthcare professionals is increasingly difficult in a rural area like Sullivan County, which makes telehealth not only useful but essential," said Sullivan County Manager Joshua Potosek. "We need strong voices, like Senator Schumer's, to advocate for our very vulnerable population."

"As a healthcare professional and a caregiver, I know all too well how incredibly challenging it can be to find providers, particularly specialists, within even an hour's drive of Sullivan County," said Sullivan County Legislature Chair Nadia Rajsz. "It is therefore crucial - a matter of life and death - that telehealth remains an option for our residents. I thank Senator Schumer for always standing up for Sullivan County and the rest of rural upstate New York." 

Schumer said that it is important for Congress to extend these flexibilities for the approximately 18,000 seniors in Sullivan County and 500,000+ seniors across the Hudson Valley with Medicare who will lose access to telehealth services. A county-by-county breakdown can be found below:

Sun River Health, which is a Federally Qualified Health Center with locations throughout the Hudson Valley, treats approximately 10,000 patients who are on Medicare via telehealth and hybrid care. The funding cliff would jeopardize the care plans of these patients and require healthcare professionals to make drastic changes to ensure that they continue to receive the standard of care they have become accustomed to.

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