Concepts of modern technologies of diagnostics of the heart.

Virtual cardiac rehab would continue past the end of the COVID-10 public health emergency under legislation introduced earlier this week.

Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced the Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act on Wednesday, which would permanently allow patients to continue receiving in-home cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services under Medicare.

“As a doctor, fighting for health patient outcomes has always been one of my top priorities in Congress,” Joyce said in a statement. “The bottom line is that this bill will help ensure that cardiac and pulmonary-care patients recover and rehabilitate from the comfort and safety of their home while still receiving top-of-the-line medical care.”

The end of the PHE on May 11, 2023, will end a number of government waivers for healthcare. While the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed at the end of last year extended telehealth services through the end of 2024, the legislation did not include cardiac rehab because it is not classified as telehealth.

The average length of cardiac rehabilitation is four months. Joyce and Peters said patients and providers have been skipping the virtual programs because Medicare reimbursement will expire halfway through treatment with a May cutoff. 

Home-based cardiac rehabilitation has proven effective in studies. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that veterans with ischemic heart disease who took part in home-base cardiac rehab had a 36% lower mortality rate than those who turned it down. Researchers found home-based cardiac rehabilitation filled a critical gap in care.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 PHE in 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services authorized telehealth flexibilities.  In the first year of the pandemic, telehealth use among Medicare beneficiaries increased from 5 million visits a year to more than 53 million visits, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.