Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06) on Tuesday gave high marks to a new executive order from President Donald Trump that makes permanent the expansion of telehealth services for those on Medicare that was first implemented at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will institute the changes proposed by Trump. According to industry website Fierce Healthcare, examples of treatment now permanently available via telehealth are “emergency room visits, nurse consultations, and speech and occupational therapy.”

“The unprecedented expansion of telehealth services overseen by the Trump Administration during the pandemic will have lasting benefits for patients and I’m pleased to see some of these changes made permanent,” said Palmer in a statement on Monday.

“It is the purpose of this order to increase access to, improve the quality of, and improve the financial economics of rural healthcare, including by increasing access to high-quality care through telehealth,” reads the document signed by Trump on Monday.

Palmer agreed, calling the order “a lifeline for rural communities that often lack meaningful access to care.”

CMS reported that 13,000 Medicare patients received care over the internet in an average week before the coronavirus pandemic, but that ballooned to almost 1.7 million individuals in the last week of April.

“These changes, combined with investments in the infrastructure necessary for their delivery, will ensure patients receive the care they need without having to travel long distances to be seen by a provider and I believe it will save lives,” concluded Palmer.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95