Resources & Reports

In mid-July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed CY 2026 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). CCHP has published a factsheet summarizing the key telehealth-related changes included in the proposal. As the policy community reviews the proposed updates, it is important to highlight that CMS has limited options to alter Medicare telehealth policy. Unless Congress acts within the next two months, many of the broad telehealth flexibilities that patients and providers have come to rely on since March 2020 will expire starting October 1, 2025. If that happens, current waivers and temporary policies will sunset, and Medicare’s permanent telehealth statute will take effect once again.  Permanent Medicare law still allows telehealth reimbursement, but a return to its more restrictive rules could significantly curtail utilization, even alongside potential PFS expansions. However, there have been pieces of federal legislation introduced during this current Congressional session that attempt to address and change these limitations.

Much of the telehealth community has been waiting to see what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be proposing in the 2026 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). The wait was over when on July 14, 2025 the unpublished version of the 2026 PFS was released (the official version was subsequently published in the Federal Register). For those who are unfamiliar, the PFS is the vehicle CMS uses to update, change or introduce new policies that will impact the Medicare program for the following year. Unless otherwise stated, the policies typically go into effect on the first of the new year.

While many are likely familiar with the usual policy channels for telehealth in states, such as laws, regulations, Medicaid manuals, providers letters and bulletins, which comprise the majority of source information on the Center for Connected Health Policy’s (CCHP) Policy Finder, occasionally a state agency or other various organizations in the state may develop and make available additional valuable telehealth resources that readers may find helpful, yet they do not fit into the CCHP Policy Finder’s specific categories (which currently include Medicaid Reimbursement, Private Payer Policies, and Professional Regulation).  Below are a few examples that demonstrate the variety of different materials that could be useful to patients, providers and policymakers.

CCHP’s July Newsletter is here! This month’s topics include – CMS Updates Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Telehealth Coverage Guidance; Congress Weighs Digital Health Innovation in House Committee Hearing; Telehealth and Nutrition Policy Align Under MAHA Momentum; Latest Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder; New Study to Evaluate Telerehabilitation for Chronic Low Back Pain in Rural Areas; Remote Care Quality & RPM’s Future. 

While Medicare telehealth policy is certainly important, we should not forget that there are also other coverage and reimbursement policies that will impact the utilization and reimbursement of telehealth, such as Medicaid and private payer policies.  Unlike the Medicare telehealth policies, the fate of telehealth private payer policies rest primarily in the hands of the states, as each state crafts their own policies regarding commercial payers’ coverage and reimbursement of telehealth delivered services.