Telehealth Update: Partial Government Shutdown Ends With Extension of Medicare Telehealth Provisions
As the telehealth industry is acutely aware, Medicare’s telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program, both of which have been in place since 2020, expired on January 31, 2026. While on that day the Senate passed a bipartisan minibus legislative package funding several federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, the House was unable to immediately pass the legislation. As such, there has been a partial government shutdown – until now.
On February 3, 2026, the House passed the Senate’s five-bill minibus which was soon after signed by President Trump. The legislation reinstates key Medicare provisions for several years including the following, among others:
- extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027;
- extension of in-home cardiopulmonary rehabilitation flexibilities through January 1, 2028; and
- extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program through September 30, 2030.
As we discussed previously here, the flexibilities and Acute Hospital Care at Home program are vital for patient access to critical clinical services. The multi-year extension of these provisions marks a significant victory for the telehealth industry and will hopefully remove them from the federal government’s often politically continuous budget and reconciliation process. The industry continues to press for permanency through standalone bills pending in Congress.
Authors
Daniel A. Cody
Member
