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…
