Lawmakers look to extend COVID-19 telehealth med exemption for veterans
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A bipartisan House bill would allow VA clinicians to prescribe veterans with controlled medications through the targeted extension of a pandemic-era waiver.
House lawmakers are hoping to expand veterans’ access to prescription services by codifying a COVID-19 pandemic exemption that allows clinicians to prescribe medications through telehealth services.
The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law in 2008, required, in part, that health care professionals conduct at least one in-person medical evaluation before prescribing any controlled substances. The provision of the law was waived during the coronavirus pandemic to allow individuals to continue receiving medical care.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services announced in October 2023 that it was extending this telehealth exemption through the end of 2024.
The legislation — introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., and co-sponsored by Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga. — would permanently reauthorize this waiver for VA clinicians.
The lawmakers’ proposal would “authorize certain heath care professionals employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to deliver, distribute or dispense to veterans certain controlled medications via telemedicine under certain conditions.”
In announcing the legislation, the lawmakers said in a press release that the exemption would be particularly beneficial for veterans who do not live close to a VA medical facility and cannot easily travel to one for an in-person medical visit.
“Millions of veterans — particularly in rural communities — rely on the VA's successful use of telehealth services,” Womack said in a statement. “This bill acknowledges and meets their needs by permanently authorizing the delivery of care right to their homes.”