Telehealth Cliff: Congress Must Act Now

The temporary flexibilities that kept 85 million patients connected to care expire at year-end — and Congress hasn't acted

Telehealth saved millions of patients. Congress could end it.

This does not get enough attention in healthcare boardrooms right now. The telehealth flexibilities that were introduced during COVID-19 and have been extended multiple times since are set to expire at the end of 2026. Unless Congress acts, the regulatory and reimbursement framework that made telehealth a viable care delivery channel for tens of millions of Americans will revert to its pre-pandemic state.

📊 The scale of what is at stake is significant. During the peak of telehealth expansion, over 85 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth services in a single year. Utilization has moderated since the pandemic but remains dramatically higher than pre-2020 levels. The patient populations most dependent on continued telehealth access — rural Americans, elderly patients with mobility limitations, behavioral health patients, and chronically ill patients managing multiple conditions — are exactly the populations for whom r…