Medicare’s Virtual Care Faces Wind Down Without Lawmaker Action

The Medicare agency’s move to curtail many popular pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities is prompting a renewed sense of urgency from the telehealth industry to get a broad-ranging telehealth bill passed in Congress before coverage expires at the end of the year.

The 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule announced Nov. 1 will issue a modest extension of flexibilities within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ enforcement purview until next year, including allowing limited types of practitioners to virtually supervise auxiliary personnel via telehealth, as well as allowing teaching physicians to be present virtually when providing telehealth services involving residents.

Popular provisions ...