The U.S. Senate on Monday night approved a funding measure that would reopen the federal government and address telehealth disruptions and other matters of concern to skilled nursing providers.

The measure passed on a 60 to 40 vote, with seven Democratic senators bucking their party to vote with Republicans. One independent senator also voted in favor of the bill. To reopen the government, the House of Representatives now must approve the bill in order to pave the way for President Donald Trump’s signature. Republican leaders hope that this could occur by Wednesday, CNN reported.

The government shutdown began on Oct. 1, and nursing home industry leaders reacted with measured concern. The impact on skilled nursing providers would likely be “minimal,” stated Clif Porter, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), the nation’s largest nursing home provider association.

However, telehealth has been an area of concern, because waivers that extended certain telehealth flexibilities expired on Oct. 1.

Under the measure passed by the Senate, telehealth claims dating back to Oct. 1 would be paid retroactively. And claims that have been paid but at a lower rate due to the expiration of geographic adjustments might also be “reprocessed and corrected,” the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed) stated Monday night in an online “Policy Snapshot.”

“Once the CR [continuing resolution] passes, telehealth coverage and policies will return to how they were before October 1,” the organization wrote. “This means providers and patients can rely on the rules and reimbursement levels that were in place before the temporary lapse in funding.”

Several skilled nursing and long-term care industry associations – including PALTMed, AHCA/NCAL, LeadingAge and ADVION – were among 450 health care organizations that signed a Nov. 4 letter pressing Congress to enact a long-term telehealth policy.

“Providers are faced with decisions between providing the necessary care for their patients and cutting access to clinicians and services they are providing virtually,” the letter stated. “A research brief from Brown University found that expiration of the expanded telehealth coverage has cut off access to telehealth services for more than four million Medicare beneficiaries. Additionally, it has caused financial disruptions for the 30 percent of health care providers that deliver telehealth visits to Medicare beneficiaries.”

Rural providers have been among the most vocal advocates for telehealth, noting that the technology offers crucial access to care for people living in more remote areas of the country.

Good Samaritan, which is part of health system Sanford Health and is one of the largest nursing home providers in the United States, serves many rural communities and has a robust telehealth strategy. Shortly after the federal government shutdown began, Good Samaritan launched a virtual care program in 27 SNFs and assisted living facilities in South Dakota. The program is part of Sanford’s ambitious $350 million virtual care initiative.

The Senate bill also would extend funding for Medicare hospice surveys and extend the acute hospital care at home waiver, among other health care provisions. However, the funding bill does not address expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that help make certain insurance policies affordable to consumers. Protecting these subsidies was a key goal of Democratic lawmakers, and while they did secure a promised future vote on the matter, they also faced a torrent of criticism and backlash for moving to reopen the government without achieving a more substantial win on this issue.