even virtual health services beyond what is provided typically through telehealth today will be offeredby 30% of employers in 2019. artificial intelligence is playing a greater role in virtual solutions and how they support consumers. the business group hosts a health innovations forum three times a year where we invite start-ups to come in to a group of 35 aggressive employers who come together, really, to support the institution of adoption and health care. over the last three years, we have assessed over 150 start-ups with over 50 to make it through to present to these employers, and nearly all of these start-ups have some element of virtual or digital solution as part of their portfolio. we asked employers how significant a role virtual care and ai will play in how health care is delivered in the future. more than half of employers believe virtual care will play a significant role in the future delivery of health care, and as many believe that ai will have a similar impact. additionally, half of employers stated that implementing more virtual care solutions is their top priority for

for example, telehealth may be cheaper than a physician's office visit, but it is not -- that medicare and medicaid would pay for a physicians office visit. these system mostly stick to the old service network number -- they know, rather than adopt new technology that could bring down system costs. more than a decade after we have iphones and skype, which made video chatting an everyday experience, there is still spot ty reimbursement and scant use of something like telehealth. instead of innovations, aimed at large populations, we end up with something else. we see innovations aimed at specialty conditions, specialist physicians and niche health conditions. in each of the past five years, the fda has approved more new specialized drugs than it has primary care drugs. in this world, to recoup r&d costs, drug and device manufacturers are charging higher and higher prices to fewer and fewer patients in order to recoup the cost of going to market. and in prescription drugs, cost shifting is especially visible. insured patients pay 20% of their prescription drug bills in their out-of-pocke

nearly all large employers provide telehealth as an option, 20% of employers experiencing utilization of 8%. and chronic condition management like diabetes. and physical therapy, medical and surgical decisions and support, and cognitive behavioral therapy. in the healthcare strategy is not complete. in 2019, 70% of larger employers and behavioral health services. and virtual health and lifestyle coaching and 50% of her diabetes management and medical decisions. and virtual -- and 30% of employers in 2019. and 3 times a year. they come in its present to a group of 35 progressive employers. they accelerate the adoption and innovation and healthcare. over the last three years, we have 150 startups, 60 making it through to present, all of these startups have some element of virtual or digital solution as part of their portfolio. we asked employers how significant a role virtual care in a i will play in the future. more than half of employers believe in virtual care will play a significant role in future delivery of healthcare and others will have similar impact. half of employers state im

the university of mississippi medical center's telehealth medicine with dave the state of mississippi $189 million in medicaid if 20% of mississippi's diabetic population were enrolled. think of the taxpayer savings for the whole country. if cms supported this here are a couple of actions that congress can hit. past the connect for health act. it will clarify that medicare covers tech driven tools that enhance -- including the removal of outdated restrictions on 1830 4m. simas should provide reimbursement and incentives for collecting and using patient generated health data. congress should file down regulations like the antikickback statute to prevent -- that allow providers to get technology into the hands of patients. congress should support the use of television wide space technology to help cover rural populations and give them high speed broadband that can make this a reality. we are part of the system either patients or caregivers. the least we can ask is for a system that treats us whether we are in rural or urban areas as real people, not just boxes on a spreadsheet. thank yo

the university of virginia center for telehealth finds itself unable to help the very people for whom getting to a doctor quickly is an insurmountable problem and it's not just a virginia problem. throughout america ak detic and other medical centers find cm s's system governing telehealth is broken and rather than attempt to get five federal agencies to agree on the definition of rural, we think it's best for all of your constituents to have access to telehealth and digital medicine, regardless how close they are to main street. for patients remote monitoring technologies are life-saving tools. one member makes a foot mat you stand on for 20 seconds like when you're brushing your teeth. it detects foot ulcers up to five weeks before they present clinically. this tech is not only more efficient than other methods, but it cuts down on hospital bills and ultimately saves limbs. doctors like it because the patient stays engaged but reimbursement under medicare remain as question. and we're familiar with the horror stories from doctors about ehr adoption and the burn-out we see as results

the university of mississippi medical center's telehealth program would save the state $189 million in medicaid if just 20% of mississippi's diabetic population were enrolled. just think of the taxpayer savings for the whole country if cms actually supported what ummc is doing today. here's a couple of actions that congress can hit in order to make the mark. first, pass the connect for health act. and i want to thank senators cain, bennett and murkowski for cosponsoring. it would the enhance efficiency and clinical advocacy including the removal of outdated restrictions on 1834m. second, cms should provide reimbursement and incentives for collecting and using patient-generated health data. third, file down regulations like the anti-kickback regulations that allow providers to get technology into the hands of patients. and finally, congress should support the use of unlicensed spectrum to help cover rural populations and give them the high-speed broadband that can help make this a reality. we are all part of the system either as patients or caregivers. the least we can ask is for a syst

we reimburses telehealth in a meaningful way. this hearing takes place at a critical moment for health care. it is of personal importance to me. i am from a rural area, where there is not a single health-care professional within 500 miles. and yet, federal agencies cannot even agree on what world means. there is a great chart in my written testimony which shows for health clinics and extremely remote counties that agencies like the usda rightfully consider rural. notmprehensibly, cms does consider these objectively rural areas to the quote rural. for telehealth finds itself unable to help the very people for whom getting to a doctor quickly is an insurmountable problem. it is not just a virginia problem. throughout america, academic and other systems find the system governing telehealth is broken. rather than attempting to get five agencies to agree on the definition, we think it is best for all of your constituents to have access, regardless of how close they are to mainstream. for patients, remote technologies are lifesaving. w

not a lack of doctors, but inefficiencies in the system what do you think in terms of technology, telehealth, relying more on nurse practitioners and physicians assistants? what is the problem? is there a shortage of doctors and can technology help? >> well, there's certainly a misapplication of doctors. we have too many specialists we have not enough primary care doctors. and they're not distributed the way we really need them. so i think it's a big debate is there an actual shortage of doctors or we just using them inappropriately. >> thank you for being on today. >> thank you >>> now, here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on the money. a strong employment report for the month of august. the economy created 201,000 jobs last month the unemployment rate held steady at 3.9% hiring was strong in professional and business services average hourly earnings grew by almost 3% from a year ago. it was a mostly gloomy week for the markets. the tech heavy nasdaq tumbling by more than 1% on wednesday in part on fears of a global trade slowdown the s&p 500 falling as well during

it expands telehealth, an area i've been directly involved with. i'm happy to hear that. it's an important part in dealing with the opioid crisis. it deals with a new area that we haven't really dealt with before, and that's housing. as i said, the problem of opioid addiction is not just health. it's also housing. and this legislation will provide a way in which we can help the homeless and deal with the housing issues in order to make people less vulnerable to being left out of the opioid recovery. it does deal with the underlying causes with research and development and nonaddictive painkillers to get c.d.c. grants and to look at mechanisms that control prescription drugs. and it does deal with the killer effect of -- that we have in fentanyl. fentanyl, as you all know is a synthetic drug primarily produced in china but there are other sources that come into this country that are mixed with heroin causing in -- causing in many cases instant death. this will provide a way which customs will have greater enforcement to keep fentanyl out of the united states andro

telehealth bill that we are pushing for. >> very important. for mental health. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. i want to introduce colonel solomon of the united states marine corps who was yesterday promoted in the mance field room. i happened to be there. he looked great in his uniform. before you start, i have to make a phone call, so i am going to leave the room. mr. bozeman will continue the procession if i'm gone. >> thank you. mr. secretary, welcome back on the job. i know it is not an easy job. but probably one of the most important jobs. i personally am glad you are there. so i want to talk to you about a couple specific ask issues, one of the issues you committed to me on is getting up to the state -- my state soon in your tenure. i know your staff and my staff have been looking at possibly confirming dates for the third week of october. and as luck would have it that is when the alaska federation of native is going to be meeting in anchorage. that's the large -- afn is an annual meeting. it has all of our -- thousands and thousands of alaska natives

there's $30 million above what we just provided earlier this year and this will further expand the telehealth capacity to the rural health. there's also $206 million for suicide prevention outreach for veterans. again whether it's this or the energy and water, and i see the two leaders over here, the chairman and the subcommittee of the appropriations, these are money that's going to be helpful for the san antonio area for flood mitigation, or etch for the corpus christi to improve the channel project that will make sure that they'll be able to handle capacity to export petroleum product which is is a $13 million increase we got. again i want to say thank you to everybody working together, bipartisan, and mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. this gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i reserve but i'm prepared to yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from florida, ms. murphy. th

i'm proud that this legislation includes a bill that i introduced, the expanding telehealth response to ensure treatment act which will help expand access to substance use disorder treatment for medicare recipients by using telehealth technology. the opioid crisis response act includes my legislation to close a safety gap in railroad drug and alcohol testing regulations and require the department of health and human services and the department of transportation to include fentanyl in the drug testing panel. mr. president, opioid addiction destroys lives, not just the lives of the addicted but the lives of their children, their parents, their siblings, their spouses, their relatives, and friends. the opioid crisis response act and the funding we voted for today about help to move past this epidemic and we will continue to make combating opioid addiction a priority in the congress. i want to mention the good economic news that continues to poor in. -- pour in. the economy created more than 200,000 jobs in august, beating expectations, and the unemployment rate was below 4%. economic gr