Permanent Telehealth from Home Act
The Permanent Telehealth from Home Act would make permanent several telehealth flexibilities for the Medicare program (Title XVIII). Specifically, it would amend Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act to remove geographic restrictions on where telehealth services can be provided and to expand the list of eligible originating sites to include the beneficiary’s home. In other words, Medicare would continue to allow patients to receive telehealth from home and would not be limited by rural-only or facility-based origin requirements. The bill codifies these changes in a way that they would no longer be tied to temporary emergency waivers, instead linking ongoing access to the existence of an emergency period described in federal emergency authorities. The bill is titled the Permanent Telehealth from Home Act and was introduced in the 119th Congress by Representatives Buchanan, Miller (OH), and Thompson (CA). If enacted, the changes would require Medicare administrative updates to implement permanent telehealth-from-home and expanded-originating-site rules.
Key Points
- 1Permanently removes geographic restrictions on Medicare telehealth services, expanding access beyond current limits.
- 2Expands allowable originating sites to include the patient’s home, enabling at-home telehealth encounters for Medicare beneficiaries.
- 3Codifies telehealth flexibilities that were previously allowed only under emergency/waiver authorities, removing specific end-date language tied to the COVID-19 emergency period.
- 4Ties the changes to the emergency period language in section 1135(g)(1)(B), indicating the telehealth authorities would persist as long as such an emergency period exists (effectively turning temporary waivers into ongoing authorities).
- 5Amends Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (Medicare law) and was introduced by Representatives Buchanan, Miller, and Thompson, with referrals to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means.