Below is a summary of notable telemedicine takeaways from this legislation.
Extension of exemption. The legislation includes a three-month extension of the exemption from Medicare coverage limits for telehealth services, which was recently extended through the end of 2024 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The extended exemptions include:
- Lift geographic restrictions and maintain an expanded list of outbreak locations, including patients’ homes.
- Expanding the list of remote practitioners to include all practitioners eligible to bill Medicare for covered services (physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, audiologists, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, etc.) ).
- Allows federally qualified health centers and local clinics to serve as remote providers of telehealth services.
- Allows payment for audio-only telehealth services.
- Extends the exemption for practitioners who provide behavioral and mental health through telehealth from the requirement to provide in-person visits within six months of the first telehealth visit and annually thereafter.
- Extends exemption authority for home acute care hospitals.
Expired exemption. The legislation did not extend certain telehealth flexibilities that would require legislative action to continue beyond the end of 2024. Flexibilities that expired on December 31, 2024 include:
- Medicare reimbursement for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services provided via telemedicine to patients in their own homes.
- High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) are permitted to offer $1 (pre-deductible) coverage for telehealth services without jeopardizing Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility. (Safe harbor expiration date applies to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.)
Takeout. The extension provided by the Act is critical for telehealth providers. Without this extension, coverage of telehealth would be limited by the provisions of Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act, which historically limited Medicare coverage of telehealth services to services provided to patients in rural areas. This is because the range will be limited again. Clinical facilities with a designated list of providers, with limited exceptions. The extension of these waivers through March 31, 2025 provides health care providers with temporary relief on Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services. Telehealth providers and health care professionals will be required to take advantage of the new We will await further action from Congress.
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For more information, please contact Allison M. Cohen, Samuel Cottle, Alex S. Lewis, or any member of Baker Donelson’s Digital Health team.
