A bipartisan group of 32 House members is pressing Medicare to rethink a proposal that could disrupt remote monitoring for older adults who send blood pressure and blood sugar readings to their doctors from home. In an Oct. 2 letter to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, the lawmakers warned that rural patients and small practices could be hit hardest, Becker's Hospital Review reported.
The proposal is not final. If adopted as written, Medicare would pay for remote monitoring starting Jan. 1, 2027, only when clinical staff employed by the billing practice do the work, not outside companies. For a small-town patient whose blood pressure cuff or glucose meter sends readings automatically, the question is whether the doctor's office could keep the program running on its own.
