NO SHUTDOWN FOR TELEHEALTH AS CONGRESS PASSES SPENDING BILL TO KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OPEN, INCLUDING CRITICAL TELEHEALTH EXTENSIONS, ATA ACTION CELEBRATES VOTE
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 15, 2025 – ATA Action, the advocacy arm of the American Telemedicine Association, reacted to passage of a federal government spending bill that includes short-term extensions for essential telehealth provisions through September 30, 2025.
“With this vote last night, Congress has prevented millions of Americans from being cut off from essential healthcare services, ensuring that our seniors, children and families can continue to access telehealth for another six months,” said Kyle Zebley, executive director, ATA Action. “We have avoided a shutdown for telehealth services. This is a big victory for telehealth, and a huge relief for patients and clinicians in every state and region of the United States, especially those in underserved communities.”
The legislation extends Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities, enabling telehealth visits to occur from a wider range of locations, including the patient’s home. It also permits additional qualified provider types to deliver virtual care. The Acute Hospital Care at Home Program was also extended through September, allowing Medicare-certified hospitals to furnish inpatient-level care in patients’ homes.
“By including these provisions in this stopgap legislation, Congress sent a very clear message that telehealth is a fundamental part of care delivery, and that we must not reverse the significant progress made in modernizing our healthcare system,” Zebley added. “At the same time, the shortened duration of the extensions included are an impediment to long-term certainty, and the exclusion of other essential telehealth programs that expired or were absent from the final bill continues to prevent millions of individuals from accessing needed care. We must fix this, for the sake of patients, clinicians and our ailing healthcare system.”
Provisions such as first-dollar coverage for High Deductible Health Plan-Health Savings Accounts (HDHP-HSA), telehealth as an excepted benefit, an expanded Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) that would include telehealth components, and an expanded and in-home cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services remain expired, putting the health of patients in jeopardy.
“ATA Action will double down on our efforts to stop this telehealth rollercoaster and restore certainty and confidence for patients and clinicians, to know that our healthcare system will not let them down when they need it most,” Zebley said. “We remain grateful to Congress and the Trump administration for their declarations of support for telehealth and will continue to push for permanency and reestablishment of all telehealth provisions.
“We are also encouraged by Dr. Mehmet Oz’s comments yesterday at his Senate confirmation hearing. As President Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, he emphasized telehealth as ‘a major focus’ and confirmed ‘it’s one of the areas I think we’ll be able to make major inroads because there are no opponents to this.’ This clearly indicates the administration views telehealth as vital to our healthcare system,” added Zebley.
About the ATA
As the only organization completely focused on advancing telehealth, the American Telemedicine Association is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and appropriate care when and where they need it, enabling the system to do more good for more people. The ATA represents a broad and inclusive member network of leading healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, technology solution providers and payers, as well as partner organizations and alliances, working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models.
About ATA Action
ATA Action recognizes that telehealth and virtual care have the potential to transform the healthcare delivery system by improving patient outcomes, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of care, addressing health disparities, and reducing costs. ATA Action is a registered 501c6 entity and an affiliated trade organization of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).
