New Legislation Would Increase Funding for Telemedicine

Congressmen Mike Thompson, D-California recently introduced telemedicine legislation would provide $30 million in grants to help health facilities pay for telehealth equipment and expand telehealth support services. Currently about 80% of Americans do not have access to telemedicine because of restrictions that limit funding for these types of facilities to rural areas. The Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act (House Resolution 2068) would expand Medicare reimbursement to urban and suburban areas and include more facilities, the press release states. It will also allow doctors to monitor patients remotely.

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Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Publishes RFP for Teletherapy Project

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington State is providing a bidding opportunity on a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a "Special Education and Related Services Teletherapy Pilot Project".

OSPI is initiating this RFP to solicit proposals from firms, school districts, institutes of higher education, medical facilities, and other agencies interested in participating on a project to develop, implement, and evaluate a teletherapy pilot program to provide designated special education and/or related services to students with disabilities ages three (3) through twenty-one (21) from rural, suburban, and urban locations within Washington State. The objective is to provide speech language, occupational, and physical therapy services via point-to-point teletherapy technologies in pilot public school districts that, due to unfilled personnel vacancies and/or personnel shortages, do not currently have the required special education-related service providers to implement services identified on special education students' individual education plans.

For more information, please read the complete RFP file available here.

Specific Telemedicine Spending in Final Stimulus Bill

The recently passed $787 billion economic stimulation bill includes $19 billion for health information technology (HIT). Specific for telemedicine, it will provide $4.7 billion for NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, $2.5 billion for USDA’s Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program, $1.5 billion for HRSA to use to build or repair health centers and/or to purchase equipment, and $85 million for health IT and telehealth technologies within the Indian Health Service. In addition ot this, much of the other HIT money will most likely have telehealth applications. (Source: Federal Telemedicine News)

Two Telehealth Grant Application Windows Open

Fiscal Year 2009 application window is open for the Rural Development's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program, subject to the availability of funding. The grant may be used to fund telecommunications-enabled information, audio and video equipment and related advanced technologies extend educational and medical applications into rural locations. Grants are made for projects where the benefit is primarily delivered to end users that are not at the same location as the source of the education or health care service. The application deadline is March 24, 2009. More information is here.

Also, HRSA recently released updated information on the Telehealth Network Grant Program (TNGP). The primary objective of the TNGP is to show how telehealth programs and networks improve access to quality healthcare services in underserved rural and urban communities. The funding for the program is $3,430,000 with 14 awards expected. The closing date for applications is March 6, 2009. More information is here.

Telehealth Community Urged to Take Grassroots Action on OAT Funding

Congress is currently in the process of drafting appropriations legislation to provide federal spending for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which will begin on October 1st of this year. Last year, the telehealth community galvanized a strong grassroots advocacy campaign in support of increasing funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT). Hundreds of individuals and institutions contacted Congress urging that OAT funding be increased. These grassroots efforts resulted in the Senate voting to approve an amendment boosting OAT funding from $6.8 million to $13.8 million. While this increase was unfortunately not retained in compromise negotiations with the House of Representatives, the Senate vote was proof that Congress will act to support telehealth when they hear from constituents in their states and districts. Members of the telehealth community are urged to reach out to Congress and urge that telehealth receive the support it deserves. A $13.8 million budget for OAT will significantly advance telehealth in the United States. If you are willing to have your name added to the list of those supporting an increase in telehealth funding, please send an email to info@telehealthleadership.org including your name, title, organization, and address. This information will be used to add your name to the letter. Please also contact your two senators and urge them to add their names to a joint letter being circulated by Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota urging that telehealth funding in the FY 2009 Labor-HHS bill be raised to $13.8 million. With the telehealth communities grassroots efforts, funding for this critical telehealth agency can be increased. (Source: Bob Waters, Partner and Chair, Telehealth, E-Health Law & Government Relations Groups Drinker, Biddle & Reath, March 21, 2008)