Resources & Reports

Net neutrality, which is the concept of ensuring an open and equally accessible internet through regulating internet service providers (ISPs) similar to public utilities, has ended once again. On January 2, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks authority to reinstate net neutrality rules preventing broadband providers from limiting consumer internet access, such as through blocking or slowing down speeds for certain services and websites.

Last week the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released three new rules impacting prescribing controlled substances via telehealth, including the long-awaited regulations regarding establishing a telehealth prescribing registration process that was first mandated by Congress back in 2008. While the registration regulation is a proposed rule, the two additional rules regarding buprenorphine and Veterans Affairs providers are final rules:

1. Proposed Rule – Special Registrations for Telemedicine and Limited State Telemedicine Registrations
2. Final Rule – Expansion of Buprenorphine Treatment via Telemedicine Encounter
3. Final Rule – Continuity of Care via Telemedicine for Veterans Affairs Patients

For the long-time readers of the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) newsletter, you may have noticed that we did not release a 2024 reflection newsletter among the most recent editions. The reason for this is because like many of you, CCHP was waiting to see what would happen with the temporary federal telehealth waivers applicable to Medicare. On December 21, 2024, with President Biden signing HR 10545, we got our answer, and it was likely not what many were hoping to see. HR 10545 was the continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the federal government funded through March 31, 2025. Included in that bill was an extension of the major statutory telehealth waivers, but only until March 31, 2025, just an additional three months.

In December 2024, the Rural Telehealth Research Center (RTRC) released a Research and Policy Brief titled, The Role of Relaxed Telehealth Policy on Health Equity in Telehealth Utilization and Outcomes During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: A Living Systematic Review. The brief underscores the significant telehealth policy changes that have occurred since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as the foundation for enabling the ability to better understand the variety of implications of increased telehealth use, such as access to care, health outcomes, and cost. For this study in particular, the RTRC sought to conduct a systematic review of the ways in which telehealth has been shown to address health disparities.