Continuing Resolution Extends Several Telehealth Extensions through March
On Dec. 20, Congress passed legislation to keep the federal government agencies operating until March 14, 2025, avoiding an end-of-the-year government shutdown. The measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will fund all federal agencies at 2023–24 budget levels. The government has been running on a CR since the end of September, as Congress could not develop a final 2024–25 budget at that time.
The legislation, called The American Relief Act, 2025 passed after two earlier versions did not have the support of most members of the House of Representatives. It includes the key provisions that NBCC supported in the Telehealth Modernization Act that passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in September. The new CR continues many telehealth flexibilities through March 31, 2025:
- a moratorium on the required in-person visit within 6 months of a preliminary telehealth visit for mental health treatments
- the home of a beneficiary serving as the originating site (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) for all services
- inclusion of all Medicare beneficiaries to receive telehealth services
- Medicare-approved practitioners using audio-only services for the provision of telehealth services
- preserved telehealth delivery capabilities for critical safety-net facilities, including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).
Thank you for all the communications you generated to members of Congress last year in support of extending critically important telehealth flexibilities! The flexibilities were set to expire Dec. 31 and must be extended again after March as part of an overall 2024–25 federal budget.
The continuing resolution passed by Congress includes an important victory for older adults: an extension for the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). It means funding of outreach campaigns to help lower-income Medicare beneficiaries afford their overall health care and mental health costs can continue until the next funding deadline in March.
The CR package includes $100 billion in disaster aid to address ongoing issues resulting from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and other natural disasters.
Notable omissions from the CR legislation include several widely supported health care initiatives. Despite broad stakeholder consensus, including backing from insurance companies, the bill excluded standards for electronic prior authorization. Additionally, the legislation failed to incorporate measures addressing future pandemic preparedness or provisions to combat the ongoing opioid crisis, leaving these critical health care challenges unaddressed.
Though reform of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) played a crucial role as a funding mechanism in the initial health care section of the CR legislation, these provisions were ultimately excluded from the final year-end bill; however, given their significance in health care cost management, these PBM reform measures are expected to reemerge during next year’s congressional negotiations over funding offsets. The continued interest in PBM reform reflects its importance in broader health care cost containment efforts.
Looking ahead, we will immediately begin working in 2025 to ensure Congress makes Medicare telehealth flexibilities permanent or secures a much longer extension than 90 days. Telehealth continues to enjoy bipartisan support, and organizations that NBCC works with will also be mobilizing and advocating for short-term or long-term policies to ensure optimal access to telemental health services. Many Medicare clients with health conditions are unable to travel and need to be able to access telemental health services with a counselor. We know that it would be catastrophic and destructive to not allow your clients to use virtual platforms.
Simultaneously, we will advocate vigorously to reinstate the vital provisions that were left out of this CR package, such as an increase in Medicare provider payments to counselors.
