Federal Stopgap Spending Bill Extends Telehealth Flexibilities

After the House of Representatives voted 217-213 to pass H.R. 1968, a stopgap spending bill for the remainder of the fiscal year (the “Bill")  on March 11, 2025, the Senate narrowly passed the Bill with a vote of 54-56 on March 15, 2025, and the Bill was subsequently signed into law by President Trump on March 15, 2025, thereby avoiding a government shutdown. Among other things, the Bill extends telehealth flexibilities, which were set to expire on March 31, 2025 under the American Relief Act, until September 30, 2025. These extended telehealth flexibilities include geographic and originating site flexibilities, expanding the practitioners eligible to provide Medicare-covered telehealth services, flexibilities for telehealth services provided by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), delaying the in-person requirement for mental health services provided via telehealth, and allowing the use of telehealth services that are audio-only. For more information on the telehealth flexibilities extended, please see this article.