Value of COVID-era Telehealth Flexibilities

In the final episode of this three-part series, Dr. Stacey Clardy and Max Goldman talk about telehealth.

Stay updated with everything related to Neurology on the Hill.

Show transcript:

Dr. Stacey Clardy:

Hi, this is Stacey Clardy, and today we're wrapping up our three-part series covering the Top Advocacy Issues for Neurology on the Hill 2026 in Washington, DC. This is the event where many neurologists fly in from all over the country to meet with our elected representatives to discuss the issues of the most importance to our patients, and to allow us to continue to take good quality care of our neurology patients.

We have again back with us, Max Goldman. He's the Director of Congressional Affairs from the AAN Legislative Team. Max, we covered Medicare, we covered neuroscience research in the Brain Initiative. The third and final issue is telehealth. What do we need to accomplish on telehealth in Washington, DC this year?

Max Goldman:

The telehealth flexibilities provided with the COVID-19 public health emergency have been so important to providing neurological care to patients across the country. However, what we saw during the government shutdown at the end of 2025 was a lapse in those flexibilities, which caused a huge amount of panic, of uncertainty for both our members, the AAN, who are providing care, and patients who relied on care through telehealth from their neurologist.

That can't happen again. These flexibilities have been extended short-term basis for one year, two year, a couple of months, and what we need now is a permanent extension of these flexibilities so they can't lapse again, and our patients know they can access the care they need. What we're doing at Neurology on the Hill is going to ask our members of Congress to co-sponsor the Connect for Health Act.

This bill would permanently extend telehealth flexibilities, including a full extension of protection of audio-only visits, which is important for folks in areas without great broadband or access to internet. This would just be a really good bill. It's got a lot of momentum this year, and we're hopeful that this will finally make telehealth a permanent part of neurological care going forward.

Dr. Stacey Clardy:

So important. I certainly know out here in Utah where we cover several rural states, this has really been a lifeline to our patients. To learn more about this issue and the other issues being discussed at Neurology on the Hill, you can go to AAN.com and click on advocacy.

Thanks for listening, and thank you Max, for representing us in DC.