Dear valued Sunshine Community Health Center patients,
As you may know, Telehealth visits have increased in frequency over the last few years. This has largely been possible due to expanded coverage by Medicare resulting from the Pandemic and efforts to maintain access to care. We started this service to help decrease the exposure of patients to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has proven to be very valuable for those patients that have challenges with transportation.
Unfortunately, the federal government has announced that they are going to phase out Medicare coverage of telehealth visits for medical visits by the end of 2024. As many of you know, access to providers who accept Medicare is very difficult. Most clinics do not accept new Medicare patients and the number of clinics accepting any Medicare patients is declining. Using telehealth technology, we are not only able to provide care to people who are homebound due to medical problems or transportation challenges but also people in remote or far away locations within the state. The loss of this service could be devastating to many people.
We are therefore asking you to contact the Alaska delegation (Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Rep. Peltola) to remind them of the importance of this service and request its preservation. Please feel encouraged to use the sample letter as a guide to write your own letter with your own experiences. You are also welcome to sign the pre-written letter if you so choose. We will be happy to send your letter to the appropriate offices if you return your completed letter to us.
Thank you for helping us to continue expanding access to people in need of care.
Atentamente,
Centro Comunitario de Salud Sunshine
Mailing Addresses
Xavier Becarra Secretary U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services 200 independence Ave, SW Washington, D.C. 20201 |
Centro Comunitario de Salud Sunshine
1-907-376-2273 (ATENCIÓN)