Sponsors (6)
The bill preserves and clarifies temporary hospice telehealth access and billing through 2027—reducing disruption and easing recertifications—while introducing targeted restrictions and new billing rules that may limit access for some patients, raise administrative burdens, and prolong uncertainty about a permanent policy.
Medicare beneficiaries in hospice retain telehealth payment flexibility through Dec 31, 2027, preserving access to remote hospice services and continuity of care.
Medicare beneficiaries in hospice (including those in rural or otherwise affected/moratorium areas) can have recertification visits via telehealth, reducing travel burdens and improving convenience for seriously ill patients.
Hospice providers, clinicians, and payers get clearer billing rules (a telehealth modifier) for hospice recertifications, which should improve claims processing and reimbursement accuracy.
Medicare hospice patients in some moratorium or enhanced-oversight areas, and patients of clinicians who are not enrolled or have not opted out, may lose telehealth payment flexibility or be ineligible for telehealth encounters beginning Jan 1, 2026, reducing access for those individuals.
Hospice clinicians and providers must implement a new telehealth billing modifier and update systems, increasing short-term administrative complexity and compliance costs.
Hospices may face reimbursement uncertainty or lower payments for telehealth recertifications if payment rules differ or guidance is delayed, creating revenue risk for providers and potential downstream effects for patient access.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Carol Devine Miller · Last progress February 27, 2025
Extends Medicare hospice telehealth recertification flexibility through December 31, 2027, but adds new exceptions that restrict that flexibility in certain high‑risk circumstances starting January 1, 2026. It also requires adding a new telehealth billing modifier for hospice recertifications performed via telehealth, which will affect billing and compliance for hospices and clinicians.