Sponsors (2)
The bill expands Medicare telehealth access by allowing allied therapists and facilities to bill for remote services—improving care access and provider payment—but increases Medicare costs and creates administrative and policy‑discretion risks during implementation.
Medicare beneficiaries gain broader access to telehealth from audiologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech‑language pathologists, improving continuity of care for patients who cannot travel.
Therapists, allied providers, and facilities can bill and be reimbursed by Medicare for telehealth services, supporting provider revenue and allowing hospitals/health systems more flexible service delivery models.
HHS is authorized to add additional enrolled providers or suppliers to telehealth coverage, creating a pathway to expand covered provider types in the future.
Expanding reimbursable telehealth provider categories will increase Medicare spending, raising costs for taxpayers and potentially for the program budget.
Rapid expansion will require CMS rulemaking and could strain administrative capacity, causing short‑term implementation burden and confusion for providers and facilities.
A broad catchall allowing HHS to add 'additional providers or suppliers' gives the agency wide discretion that could produce uneven access or reimbursement policies across provider types and create uncertainty for patients and providers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands which practitioners and entities may bill Medicare for telehealth by adding multiple therapy and allied-health provider categories and certain facilities.
Official title: Amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the scope of practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2026 by Steve Daines · Last progress February 11, 2026
Expands which practitioners and entities can bill Medicare for telehealth services by adding several therapy and allied-health provider categories and certain facilities and other enrolled providers identified by HHS. The change applies to services furnished on or after the law's enactment and clarifies a cross-reference in existing Medicare telehealth payment rules.