Congress has once again extended certain telehealth flexibilities until September 30, 2025 (which coincides with the end of the Congressional fiscal year). Specifically, the following Medicare flexibilities are currently available until September 30, 2025:
- Patients can receive all telehealth services from their homes.
- Medicare-enrolled providers who are currently permitted to provide telehealth services can continue to do so.
- There are no geographic limitations on where the patient or the eligible provider is physically located, within the United States, during the telehealth service.
- Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) can serve as eligible Distant Sites for non-behavioral health telehealth services.
- Providers may use audio-only technology to provide reimbursable telehealth services.
- Hospice providers may use audio-visual telehealth technologies to conduct face-to-face encounters to recertify hospice care eligibility.
- Medicare beneficiaries do not have to have an in-person visit with their behavioral health provider within six months of an initial telehealth appointment.
It is important to note, however, that these waiver extensions are explicitly limited to Medicare. Practitioners should consult their individual State Medicaid programs or commercial payor contracts to determine what, if any, telehealth reimbursement is available. Similarly, practitioners’ ability to practice telehealth pursuant to state licensure laws is not impacted by this extension.
We are continuing to monitor several pieces of recently-introduced legislation related to the potential permanent extension of these flexibilities and will provide our clients with updates as they become available.
Should you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the authors, the Garfunkel Wild attorney with whom you regularly work, or email us at [email protected].