The Big Story 

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in both the House and Senate have called on the Biden administration to preserve COVID-era flexibilities on telemedicine while also speaking out against a reported rule federal regulators are proposing. 

© AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Remember: In 2020, telemedicine flexibilities were introduced to ensure people could continue receiving care. Many of these rules allowed patients to go without in-person requirements to receive prescriptions for substance use disorder and mental health. 

These flexibilities have been extended twice, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last week submitted to the White House a proposal for a third extension. It has not yet been published. 

While some of these rules were made permanent by the Biden administration, some are scheduled to expire at the end of this year without an extension. 

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led a group of 11 senators in a letter to President Biden, calling for a third extension to be finalized while also criticizing reports that the DEA was advancing a rule to limit telemedicine prescribing. 

According to a report by Politico, the proposed rule would require that no more than half of a prescriber’s prescriptions be given through telemedicine. The rule would also reportedly make prescribing schedule II substances like Adderall virtually impossible. 

The senators wrote that they were “concerned that the new policies would significantly restrict access to necessary and life-saving treatments. These restrictions would be detrimental to patients and a barrier to accessing care.” 

House lawmakers led by Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) echoed these concerns in a letter signed by 18 representatives. 

They also took issue with reports that the DEA was following through on legislation requiring the agency to develop a special registration for the telemedicine process, a 16-year directive by Congress that would have providers who wish to prescribe a controlled substance without an in-person visit register with the DEA. 

As the DEA is reportedly planning to exclude entire classes of drugs and physicians from the registration process, the representatives said this appeared to go against the initial intent of the legislation. 

“If the reporting is true, the proposed content of the rule seems misaligned with Congressional intent in authorizing such a Special Registration process. Such a rule may unnecessarily risk care for thousands of patients reliant on telemedicine for critical medications,” they wrote. 

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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