Beginning with the pandemic, the federal government has recognized the power of telehealth to tear down geographic and other access barriers to care and temporarily eliminated regulatory barriers to use of telehealth for Medicare enrollees. Flexibilities have been extended multiple times, most recently in December of 2024 and then again in March of 2025. Current extension of the flexibilities expires at the end of September.
It is long past time for these flexibilities to be permanent healthcare policy.
Access TeleCare shares the American Telemedicine Association’s position that making permanent the Medicare telehealth payment flexibilities is essential for millions of Americans to continue accessing needed care safely, conveniently, and affordably.
There are a couple of bills currently in Congress that would make the flexibilities permanent: The Connect for Health Act and the soon-to-be-reintroduced Telehealth Modernization Act. The bills are bipartisan and have sponsors from both political parties.
At Access TeleCare we believe in the transformative power of telehealth to improve healthcare delivery and put access to timely behavioral health and physical health care within reach of more Americans. We believe in it because we witness its effectiveness every day. Our virtual catchment area covers approximately 15,000 zip codes across the country, nearly 65 percent of the U.S. population.
We see the life-saving and life-enhancing power of telemedicine every day:
- in the patients with stroke symptoms who get emergent treatment when seconds count
- in the patients who get stabilizing psychiatric treatment and care when they experience a crisis
- in the patients who get a timely, accurate diagnosis of an infectious disease, putting them on the right path to treatment
- in the patients who receive an accurate in utero diagnosis of a fetal anomaly, despite being hundreds of miles away from a maternal-fetal medicine specialist
We also see the community impact of supporting hospitals in keeping services from nephrology to behavioral health locally available and in expanding their services to meet their communities’ expectations for care no matter their need or condition.
Ensuring that telehealth is a robust part of the healthcare delivery system in this country is core to our mission as a company. We improve patient lives through timely access to care, and we deliver that care with clinical excellence through telemedicine.
Join us in supporting permanent telehealth flexibilities by sending a message to your member of Congress. The American Telemedicine Association has a fast and easy way to take action. It is time to stop extending the flexibilities and to make them permanent.
