West OC Times

Representative Michelle Steel has expressed her satisfaction following the passage of the Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act by the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill includes several of Rep. Steel’s key health care priorities aimed at enhancing access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries and patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Notably, it incorporates language from Rep. Steel’s Supporting Patient Education and Knowledge (SPEAK) Act and Expanding Language Access in Telehealth Act.

Rep. Steel commented on the potential of telehealth services, stating, “The past few years have conclusively shown that telehealth has the potential to drastically increase patient access to vital services and improve health outcomes, but unnecessary roadblocks remain for too many Americans, including those with limited English proficiency.” She thanked her Ways and Means Committee colleagues for passing her proposals and urged Speaker Johnson to bring this bill to the floor so more Americans can benefit from these crucial services.

The legislation also includes language from the Permanent Telehealth from Home Act, which Rep. Steel co-leads, as well as the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act, which she cosponsored. During a markup session today, Rep. Steel encouraged her colleagues to adopt her proposals.

In prepared remarks to the Committee, she said: “California’s 45th Congressional District is home to 175,000 limited English proficiency individuals and more than 80,000 Medicare beneficiaries... significant portions of my district have been unable to fully utilize the potential of telehealth due to barriers for people with limited English proficiency... I am proud to see my bipartisan legislation included in H.R. 8261 which will enable our Nation’s health care system to increase translation options for telehealth visits.”

The full text of the bill can be viewed here.