US lawmakers introduce bill for telehealth services in nursing homes

US Representatives Adrian Smith, Ann Kuster, and Senators John Thune and Ben Cardin announced to co-sponsor a legislation, the Reducing Unnecessary Senior Hospitalizations (RUSH) Act of 2020, to increase telehealth services in nursing homes. The RUSH Act would allow Medicare to enter into voluntary arrangements with medical groups to provide essential care to patients in nursing facilities by using a combination of telehealth and on-site consultations. The legislators said that greater use of telehealth will reduce expensive and unnecessary hospital visits as well as the risk of patients contracting an infectious disease while staying in or visiting a hospital.