#MEAction Supports Health Care at Home Act

#MEAction is excited to announce our support of the Health Care at Home Act, which increases telemedicine opportunities during the pandemic.

Telemedicine enables people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) to access their healthcare professionals without leaving home, which can mean the difference between being able to access a doctor or not for some people with ME. Access to compassionate care, like telemedicine, is core to #MEAction’s Mission and Vision!  

During the Covid-19 emergency, people with ME have been able to utilize telemedicine as insurance companies and doctors have begun to rely on this service to treat patients. #MEAction has signed-on to a letter of support along with many medical organizations, with the hope this Act will be added to the next coronavirus relief bill.

This Act will establish telemedicine reforms for any group health plans and health insurance issuers that are providing group or individual coverage for the duration of the federal Covid-19 emergency:

* Any “medical necessary” treatments that would be covered by insurance for in-person visits must also be covered when provided through telemedicine. This includes audio visits, as well.
* Block restrictions on what conditions can be treated via telemedicine.
* Doctors reimbursed equally for telemedicine as they would for in-person visits.

The Health Care at Home Act (H.R. 6644) was introduced in the House with a bipartisan effort led by Rep. Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA8) and Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (TN-01). The Act in House has an additional 15 bipartisan co-sponsors. Additionally, Sen. Tina Smith (MN) submitted a companion bill (S 3741) in the Senate and already eight senators have agreed to co-sponsor.

Join #MEAction is showing your support for this bill by either thanking your member of Congress for their support or asking them to sign-on in support!

To thank your members of Congress, here is a list of current House and Senate co-sponsors.

Here is sample THANK YOU tweet:
 “@{MemberofCongress} THANK YOU for co-sponsoring the #HealthCareAtHomeAct! As a person with ME, access to a wider range of services provided by telemedicine is crucial to my health during a pandemic. Your support means a lot! @MEActNet #pwME #telemedicine”

If your member of Congress was not on the above list, tweet at them to ask for their support:

Here is a sample ASK FOR SUPPORT tweet:
“@{HouseMember}, please support the #HealthCareAtHomeAct HR6644! As a person with ME, access to a wider range of services provided by telemedicine is crucial to my health during a pandemic. Your support would mean a lot! @MEActNet #pwME #telemedicine”

“@{Senator}, please support the #HealthCareAtHomeAct S3741! As a person with ME, access to a wider range of services provided by telemedicine is crucial to my health during a pandemic. Your support would mean a lot! @MEActNet #pwME #telemedicine”

To find your Member of Congress:
House
Senate

We recognize this bill does not help everyone with ME as it is focused around insurance and these specific reforms are set to expire after the Covid-19 emergency. However, there is hope that once people become more familiar and accustomed with telemedicine and its advantages, these reforms and other advances in telemedicine will remain beyond the pandemic. This is something that #MEAction hopes to leverage in the future.

As always, #MEAction will continue to fight for easier access to care both on the federal and local levels. 

Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
Email

Latest News

Graphic of yellow canary over black and white photo of a coal mine. Text reads "Canary Corps"

CANARY CORPS – Alison’s Story

Have you registered yet to join us this Wednesday, December 6th at 4pm ET / 1pm PT for a community presentation introducing the Canary Corps program? Ahead of Wednesday’s event we wanted to share with you Alison’s story. Alison Sbrana will be co-presenting this event, and much of the design of Canary Corps has been

Read More »
A rectangle image with a blueish/purple background. The words, "A Year of Exciting Medical Education Achievements" is in white font on the left hand side with the #MEAction logo underneath. On the righthand side is an image of Jaime Seltzer with a step and repeat and poster at the SDMI conference.

A Year of Exciting Medical Education Achievements

A year ago, we were proud to announce that #MEAction and Mayo Clinic Rochester had won a grant for diagnostic improvement, with Ravindra Ganesh, and Stephanie Grach, and I on the grant as co-investigators. Our project, Improving Diagnostic Accuracy of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Through Implementation of an Enhanced Education Protocol and Care Process Model

Read More »
a light orange rectangle with a burnt orange outline. in the box, there are orange flag garlands hanging in both top corners with orange confetti in the middle and at the top. in the bottom corners fall leaves. in the middle of the box the word, "OUR BOLDEST THANKS" in burnt orange. the #MEAction logo at the bottom.

#MEAction Shares Our Thanks for Your BOLD ACTIONS

During this time of thankfulness and gratitude, #MEAction staff wants to share what BOLD ACTIONS we are thankful our volunteers and community have taken throughout the year. We thought we could reflect together on all that we have accomplished this year and how every single one of us is important in this powerful community. A

Read More »