In his final weeks as Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer is making it a priority to stave off the end of Medicare coverage for telehealth and related services, set to expire at the end of the year.

“They won’t do it anymore, and that means if you want  telehealth, you have to pay it out of your own pocket, or the hospital has to pay for it,” he said of the looming deadline known as the “telehealth cliff.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare was given flexibility to reimburse telehealth visits, and that authority was expanded already, but Schumer argued that its usefulness extends beyond the confines of the pandemic.

“It allows people who can’t get to a hospital to get good health care, it's convenient for them, you don’t have to take off work, you don’t have to drive 50 miles,” he said.

Nathan Littauer Hospital CEO Sean Fadale emphasized that it plays an especially crucial role in places like Fulton County, New York.

“Telehealth has become part of the daily fabric of delivering health care in rural America, and if we lose this ability, this is going to be a devastating blow,” he said.

Experts like Dr. Michael Dinkels argue the technology has been given the space to evolve, which would be compromised if coverage ends.

“Here at Nathan Littauer, this was our first shop, pre-Covid, with the rules put in place we expanded, and it would be great for everybody to expand further,” he said.

Schumer told reporters that while ideally coverage could be made permanent, he is at least confident that bipartisan support for a two-year extension is within reach.

“I’m going to do everything I can while I’m majority leader, and I’m still majority leader until Jan. 3, to get this done,” he said.

If an extension was passed, it would need to be renewed again upon expiration unless there is sufficient support for permanent coverage.