RE: Expand Access to Vital Telehealth Services in COVID-19 Supplemental Appropriation

The mission of the Federation of Naturopathic Medicine Regulatory Authorities (FMNRA) is to protect the public by facilitating communication between naturopathic regulatory authorities, and by promoting standards of excellence in the regulation of naturopathic medicine. The members of the FNMRA are the state naturopathic licensing boards and committees.

The FNMRA appreciates the recent reforms that Medicare has already made for telehealth services (Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act), but we believe that additional reforms are still needed. The country’s naturopathic doctors (NDs) are still limited by the current telehealth reforms. To meet the demands of Americans during this COVID-19 pandemic, the Federation is asking that additional changes be made to include NDs in the telehealth services supplemental appropriation. This change will enable NDs (who are primary care providers) to better serve Americans during this crisis.

We ask for your support to expand access to vital telehealth services in the COVID-19
supplemental appropriation, and we urge you to include a provision that would provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to waive existing Medicare restrictions on telehealth visits during a public health emergency.

Read the entire letter here.