President Trump Signs Continuing Resolution (CR) Reopening Government; Includes Temporary Extension of Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities Through January 2026
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President Trump signed a temporary continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government and extend certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities through January 30, 2026.
The new CR extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities (Sec. 6208), that were previously extended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, through January 30, 2026. These flexibilities include:
Home as the originating site and no geographic restrictions for Medicare non-behavioral telehealth visits.
- Delayed in-person visit requirements for behavioral telehealth visits.
- Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers as distant-site providers.
- Audio-only non-behavioral telehealth visits.
- Telehealth recertification requirements for hospice care.
- Expanded provider eligibility for general telehealth (i.e., occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists).
Even though the government has reopened and reinstated Medicare flexibilities for telehealth services, the status of many telehealth service claims submitted since Oct. 1, 2025, when the shutdown began, remains uncertain. On Nov. 7, CMS released an update indicating that it has been difficult for Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to determine if certain claims for telehealth services were payable during the shutdown or not. Stay tuned for further updates. For physicians, the short extension provides some reprieve, but the brevity of the extension means that physicians, patients, and other telehealth advocates will be back at square one in the new year having to push for renewal.
To learn more: https://telehealth.org/blog/senate-passes-cr-extending-medicare-telehealth-flexibilities-through-january-2026/
