Congress Extends Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities Post-Government Shutdown

The Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 5371) signed into law on November 12, 2025, ended the federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025. A key provision in this legislation extends certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities, which were initially established during the COVID-19 public health emergency. These flexibilities had lapsed during the government shutdown period but are now extended through January 30, 2026, with CMS confirming the extension applies retroactively.\n\nCMS updated its telehealth FAQs on November 20, 2025, to clarify enrollment requirements for practitioners delivering telehealth services from home. Practitioners with a physical practice location are not required to list their home address on Medicare enrollment forms when furnishing telehealth from home, while virtual-only practitioners must list their home as their practice location but can designate it as a "home office for administrative/telehealth use only." CMS allows suppression of this address on public profiles to protect practitioner privacy.\n\nThe CMS guidance is consistent with their policy established in the Calendar Year 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, which mandates separate Medicare enrollments for each state a practitioner serves. Following the expiration of telehealth flexibilities, CMS instructed contractors to hold related claims but has now authorized these to be resubmitted and paid retroactively provided they meet Medicare requirements.\n\nCMS encourages providers to identify patients who were out-of-pocket payers for telehealth services during the lapse period and to issue refunds where appropriate. Providers can then resubmit these claims to Medicare. This ensures continuation of coverage and reimbursement for telehealth services during the lapse period caused by the government shutdown.\n\nThese developments underline ongoing regulatory adjustments to support telehealth delivery in Medicare, reflecting policy shifts toward increased flexibility for healthcare providers and beneficiaries. The retroactive coverage extension mitigates potential financial disruption for providers and patients arising from the temporary lapse in telehealth authorization during the government shutdown.