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The percentage of Medicare Part B patients who received a telehealth service declined to 23% in 2025 after holding steady at 25% for two years. Government turmoil and uncertainty might be responsible for the dip.
 
 
Medicare patients can continue to receive telehealth services from home for the next two years, thanks to the latest extension of popular waivers that were introduced during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
 
The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 (CAE 2026), reactivated the COVID-19 telehealth waivers until Jan. 30, 2026. Better still, the CAE 2026 closed a potential telehealth payment gap by backdating the extension to Sept. 30, 2025.
 
Members of Congress did not come to a budget agreement before the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, and a government shutdown of all but "essential" spending is now in effect. CMS has issued some advice to providers.
 
 
The following article will appear in the 9/29/25 issue of Part B News. Subscribers can access more than 400 articles on telehealth and telemedicine.
 
After five years, most – but not all – of Medicare’s telehealth expansions are scheduled to end at midnight, Oct. 1. Even though one quarter of eligible Medicare patients continue to take advantage of the broader telehealth benefit, it seems unlikely that Congress will pass another last-minute extension or a permanent upgrade to Medicare telehealth law to keep the popular policies in place.
 

 

 

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