RELEASE: REP. KHANNA ANNOUNCES NEW BILLS TO MAKE MEDICARE TELEHEALTH COVERAGE PERMANENT & TO “DRAIN THE SWAMP” WITH ETHICS REFORM
Washington, DC – Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) announced that he will introduce the Drain the Swamp Act, a new bill to ban White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists or becoming lobbyists during the Trump term. He also announced The Telehealth Coverage Act that he will soon introduce to make Medicare coverage for telehealth permanent. See Rep. Khanna’s remarks announcing the legislation below.
Mr. Speaker, the Trump administration is stripping millions of American seniors of their coverage of telehealth on March 31. That's right, if you're a senior on Medicare starting April 1, your doctor's visits on video conference or zoom or phone will no longer be covered. This is going to impact over 12 million Americans, and the crazy thing is that the inspector generals have found that there's only 0.2% of fraud in telehealth. So why are we taking telehealth away from millions of seniors who are homebound or who have difficulty leaving their homes. It is most devastating for rural Americans. That is why today I'm introducing the Telehealth Coverage Act. It will require Medicare to pay for telehealth services permanently. Let us pass this act in a bipartisan way so that millions of American seniors aren't deprived of telehealth services because of the actions of the Trump administration.
Mr. Speaker, President Trump campaigned around the country to drain the swamp, yet one of the first things he did was reverse President Biden's executive order that banned White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists. So today I am introducing the Drain The Swamp Act. It's pretty simple. It will ban any White House official from accepting gifts from lobbyists, and it will ban White House officials from becoming lobbyists during the Trump term. I believe that this bill will have support, not just from progressives, not just from independents, but from the MAGA movement. That is why I'm calling on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to pass the drain the swamp act and send it to President Trump's desk so he can fulfill his promise.
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