Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act

This bill aims to permanently extend flexibilities established during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing Medicare beneficiaries to receive cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services in their homes. It amends the Social Security Act to permit these services to be furnished via two-way audio-visual telehealth technology or when a patient's home is designated as a provider-based location of a hospital outpatient department. Furthermore, the legislation explicitly allows for physician supervision of these rehabilitation programs through virtual presence using two-way audio-visual communications. A significant provision of the bill expands the originating sites for telehealth services, specifically waiving geographic requirements for in-home cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs. This change ensures that patients can access these vital services remotely, regardless of their location, by removing a key barrier to telehealth adoption. The bill also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish new rules. These rules will set standards for designating an individual's home as a provider-based organization of a hospital, consistent with prior "Hospital Without Walls" waivers, and formally include these rehabilitation programs as specified telehealth services.