Photo: Joe Daniel Price/Getty
With the federal government now reopened after more than a month, the recently passed House funding bill, H.R.5371, also restores critical telehealth access by extending Medicare flexibilities through Jan. 30, 2026.
That resumption is welcomed by virtual care advocates who view it as an important victory for hospitals and patients.
But providers are also expressing concern over the stop-gap nature of the new rules, and are once again urging lawmakers to deliver a long-term, stable telehealth policy that avoids disruptions to day-to-day operations and ongoing innovation.
WHY IT MATTERS
With the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act of 2026 officially made law this week, telehealth access is restored through the first month of next year.
Also called the "minibus," the legislation approved the latest telehealth extension in Section 6208: "Extending telehealth services for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. – Section 1834(m)(8)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(8)(A)) is amended by striking 'ending on September 30, 2025' and inserting 'ending on January 30, 2026'."
Telehealth advocates are broadly expressing relief.
"The Alliance for Connected Care applauds Congress for extending Medicare's critical telehealth flexibilities through January 2026," Chris Adamec, the virtual care member organization's executive director, told Healthcare IT News by email on Thursday.
One provider called the federal government's action in the funding legislation "an important victory for hospitals, clinicians and patients nationwide."
The latest extension "reinforces what hospitals and health systems already know: telehealth is a strategic advantage," according to Dr. Chris Gallagher, Access TeleCare's founder and chief strategy officer. "The hospitals and health systems that invest now will be best positioned to sustain quality outcomes, manage workforce challenges and expand access long term," he said by email Thursday evening.
However, healthcare provider and telehealth advocate statements likewise express trepidation.
"While we are encouraged by this extension, lawmakers must deliver a long-term, stable telehealth policy that gives patients, providers and health systems the certainty they deserve," Adamec said. "Short-term, and even year-to-year, extensions are no longer sustainable for a care model that is now central to how America delivers healthcare."
In a letter to lawmakers on Nov. 4, the Alliance and 450 stakeholders requested that telehealth be recognized legislatively as an integral part of healthcare delivery in the United States.
A spokesperson from the American Telemedicine Association and ATA Action stated that the organization is waiting for language from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to clarify if the funding legislation includes reimbursement for eligible virtual care services provided during the shutdown.
Johns Hopkins Medicine was one of many U.S. Healthcare providers that made temporary changes to their telehealth offerings due to the shutdown.
Those actions included a temporary pause in scheduling in mid-October, and then sending patients advance notices of non-coverage in case Medicare did not pay for these services, Dr. Helen Hughes, JHU's medical director in the office of telemedicine, said in an email Friday.
"We are hopeful, given the clean extension of the flexibilities through [Jan. 30], that we will be paid for the telehealth services delivered by our clinicians to Medicare beneficiaries during the shutdown."
The American College of Cardiology announced Thursday that it too is engaging lawmakers to make Medicare telehealth flexibilities permanent – "including coverage for audio-only services, home-based cardiac rehabilitation and the removal of originating site restrictions." ACC noted that it believed that under the funding bill, virtual care provided during the shutdown would be covered retroactively.
THE LARGER TREND
Delays to patient care during the shutdown were most pronounced in rural areas, and providers have good reason to proceed with caution in their telehealth investments.
Their enthusiasm for telehealth flexibilities – a legislative carrot dangled before providers who are eager to leverage virtual care in their pursuit of digital transformation and the promise of cost efficiencies and improved patient outcomes – has been declining in terms of healthcare innovation.
The most recent lapse in telehealth reimbursements under Medicare led to widespread provider disruption.
As Congress continues to kick the can down the road with extensions attached to funding bills that have short-term end dates, telemedicine policy expert Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, chair of the department of health services, policy and practice at Brown University School of Public Health, has been closely tracking the progress of a permanent solution from the government.
Earlier this year, Mehrotra told Healthcare IT News that the frustrations and promise of telehealth reimbursement and regulation are stifling virtual care innovation. Investments are needed to improve medical devices, patients' access to them and virtual providers' access to data at the point of care.
"People need to know what the landscape is going to look like to make the investments they see fit," he said.
ON THE RECORD
"Millions of Americans are waking up this morning greatly relieved that they can, once again, access needed healthcare services via telehealth," Kyle Zebley, executive director, ATA Action, and CEO of ATA, said in a statement on Thursday. "This sends an important message to healthcare providers and patients that our government leaders value telehealth and are committed to maintaining access to these urgently needed programs."
The HIMSS AI & Cybersecurity Virtual Forum is free to attend on Nov. 18. Learn more and register.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
