Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care   The Big Story Congress wants telemedicine flexibilities to stay A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in both the House and Senate have called on the Biden administration to preserve COVID-era flexibilities on telemedicine while also speaking out against a reported rule federal regulators are proposing. © AP Photo/Elise Amendola Remember: In 2020, telemedicine flexibilities were introduced to ensure people could continue receiving care. Many of these rules allowed patients to go without in-person requirements to receive prescriptions for substance use disorder and mental health.   These flexibilities have been extended twice, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last week submitted to the White House a proposal for a third extension. It has not yet been published.   While some of these rules were made permanent by the Biden administration, some are scheduled to expire at the end of this year without an extension.   Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led a group of 11 senators in a letter to President Biden, calling for a third extension to be finalized while also criticizing reports that the DEA was advancing a rule to limit telemedicine prescribing.   According to a report by Politico, the proposed rule would require that no more than half of a prescriber’s prescriptions be given through telemedicine. The rule would also reportedly make prescribing schedule II substances like Adderall virtually impossible.  The senators wrote that they were “concerned that the new policies would significantly restrict access to necessary and life-saving treatments. These restrictions would be detrimental to patients and a barrier to accessing care.”   House lawmakers led by Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) echoed these concerns in a letter signed by 18 representatives.   They also took issue with reports that the DEA was following through on legislation requiring the agency to develop a special registration for the telemedicine process, a 16-year directive by Congress that would have providers who wish to prescribe a controlled substance without an in-person visit register with the DEA.  As the DEA is reportedly planning to exclude entire classes of drugs and physicians from the registration process, the representatives said this appeared to go against the initial intent of the legislation.   “If the reporting is true, the proposed content of the rule seems misaligned with Congressional intent in authorizing such a Special Registration process. Such a rule may unnecessarily risk care for thousands of patients reliant on telemedicine for critical medications,” they wrote.   Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.  Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.  Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:  Trump calls himself ‘the father of IVF’Former President Trump in a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday called himself the “father of IVF,” seeking to claim credit as a defender of the fertility treatment that conservative Supreme Court justices threw into uncertainty by overturning Roe v. Wade. Trump sat for a town hall with Georgia women, who asked about his positions on abortion access and in vitro fertilization (IVF), two areas where Democrats have gone on …  Full Story  Meat recall expands to almost 12 million pounds of productsBrucePac, a large producer of prepackaged meat and poultry, has expanded an existing recall to include the addition of almost 1.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat products distributed to schools, restaurants and other institutions. The recall brings the total weight of recalled meat to nearly 12 million pounds, according to an updated press release about the recall issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The original …  Full Story  More than 1,500 physicians call on Trump to release health care plan More than 1,500 physicians around the country are calling on former President Trump to release his health care plan with three weeks until election day. In the new letter authored by the Committee to Protect Health Care PAC, which has endorsed Vice President Harris, more than 1,500 physicians urge the GOP nominee to clarify his plans for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) following his remarks on the topic during his debate against …  Full Story   The Hill Event Get the Most from Your 2025 Medicare Drug Benefits | Sign up   Join The Hill on Oct. 22 as we convene Open Enrollment experts, policymakers and advocates to address key changes and updates expected from 2025 Medicare open enrollment. Speakers include: Tom Kornfield, founder & CEO, MAST Health Policy Solution; Amy Niles, Chief Mission Officer, PAN Foundation; and Julia Schreiber, Program Director, Maryland Department of Aging. Click here to RSVP   In Other News Branch out with a different read: Omarosa: Trump ‘dictated’ doctors’ letters about his medical history Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed former President Trump “dictated” what doctors wrote about his medical history, making the allegation during a Tuesday evening CNN appearance. Full Story   Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: The mosquito-borne virus ‘triple E’ continues its spread, worrying Oklahoma state health officials (Oklahoma Voice)  Nebraska voters to choose between historic, dueling abortion questions (Washington Post)  Maryland DACA recipients eligible for state health coverage starting in November (WYPR)  What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Inside UnitedHealth’s strategy to pressure physicians: $10,000 bonuses and a doctor leaderboard (Stat)  Elder care costs are outpacing inflation. Americans want a lifeline. (NBC News)  New cervical cancer treatment cuts risk of death from disease, according to trial results (CNN) What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: FEMA workers threatened by armed group in Tennessee “They were all armed, open carry not guns drawn, but they had surrounded them and there was a lady there that was yelling and threatening them.” Read more Half the country will vote for Trump. What is his appeal? Donald Trump’s appeal is based on uniting three strands of conservatism, aversion to government, aversion to change, and aversion to difference, and … Read more  You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely unsubscribe. Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. 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