CONNECT for Health Act of 2025

This bill expands access to telehealth for people with Medicare. Starting October 1, 2025, Medicare’s location limits for telehealth would end, so you could use telehealth no matter where you live or get care. The federal health department could also allow more kinds of clinicians to provide virtual care when it is clinically appropriate. Federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics would keep getting paid for telehealth visits like their regular services after that date. For Indian Health Service, tribal, and Native Hawaiian health facilities, location rules would not apply starting January 1, 2026. The bill ends the six‑month in‑person visit rule for mental health telehealth, lets telehealth rules be eased during public health emergencies, and allows telehealth to be used for hospice recertification .

It also adds guardrails and support. Providers could give patients technology to take part in telehealth or remote monitoring, as long as it isn’t used as advertising and follows rules set by the health department. It funds audits and investigations of telehealth through 2030. The health department would flag clinicians with unusual telehealth billing, notify them, share summary information with the public, and offer education through telehealth resource centers . Patients and providers would get training and resources on how to use telehealth—including for people with limited English or disabilities—within 6 months after this becomes law; quality measures would be updated to include telehealth, and public reports on telehealth use and spending would be posted regularly .

• Who is affected: People with Medicare; doctors and other clinicians; patients at community health centers and rural clinics; American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities; hospice patients.
• What changes: Location limits for telehealth end; more clinician types may be allowed; mental health telehealth no longer needs a prior in‑person visit; hospice recertification can use telehealth; technology can be given to patients under safeguards; stronger oversight and education; better data and quality tracking .
• Key dates: October 1, 2025 (major Medicare telehealth changes start) ; January 1, 2026 (special rules for Native American and Native Hawaiian facilities start) ; within 6 months of enactment (training/resources begin) ; 180 days after enactment and quarterly (public telehealth data posts) ; fiscal years 2026–2030 (oversight funding).