Sponsors (2)
The bill authorizes multi-year funding to sustain and expand telehealth access—benefiting rural patients, hospitals, and the telehealth workforce—while carrying risks of uncertain actual appropriation, uneven access favoring larger providers, and modest additional federal cost.
Rural communities and patients with chronic conditions retain and expand access to telehealth services because the bill authorizes $42.05M per year to fund telehealth networks and resource centers.
Hospitals and health systems can expand virtual care capacity and technical support due to stable multi-year authorization of funding.
Telehealth workforce planning and training gain predictability because resource centers are funded on a multi-year basis, helping staffing and skills development.
Hospitals, rural providers, and patients may still face uncertainty because this is an authorization (not an appropriation) and programs could remain unfunded if Congress does not allocate the money.
Smaller clinics and resource-limited providers may be disadvantaged because grant-focused federal funding tends to favor organizations with grant-writing capacity, concentrating benefits with larger providers.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending—about $210.25 million total over five years—to support the telehealth programs authorized by the bill.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Authorizes $42,050,000 annually for FY2026–FY2030 for the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.
Authorizes annual funding of $42,050,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs by amending the Public Health Service Act to add a funding paragraph. The change restructures the referenced statutory subsection to add a separate paragraph that specifies the new multi-year authorization level and adjusts punctuation to preserve existing text continuity.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.
Introduced May 14, 2025 by David G. Valadao · Last progress April 22, 2026