Federal Telehealth Advocacy
APTA and association partners are aggressively lobbying to ensure that PTs remain authorized telehealth providers under Medicare.  As many members are aware, the telehealth flexibilities that Congress afforded to Medicare were set to expire at the end of 2024.  However, Congress provided an extension of those policies that is now set to expire on March 31, 2025. At present, Congress is crafting a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funded to avoid a partial government shutdown before the federal government’s spending authority will cease on March 15^th.  APTA and coalition partners are working to get a telehealth extension provision secured in the CR to keep PTs (and others) as authorized telehealth providers for as long as possible, while we also continue to push for a permanent policy. 

There is broad bipartisan support for telehealth. Congress is considering providing an extension on telehealth ranging from another six months to two years.  On February 24, 2025, APTA joined over 100 organizations in a letter to the U.S. Congress urging them to extend the current Medicare telehealth flexibilities in the upcoming spending package; Congress must extend the current telehealth flexibilities before they expire on March 31, 2025.

Concurrently members of Congress are introducing legislation to make Medicare coverage of telehealth permanent.  On February 25^th, H.R. 1614 was introduced in the U.S. House.  by Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Adrian Smith (R-NE), and Mike Thompson (D-CA), to make PTs, OTs, and SLPs permanent, rather than temporary, authorized providers of telehealth in Medicare.  APTA endorsed this bill in the previous Congress and will support it again in the 119th Congress. Separately, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the Telehealth Coverage Act (bill number not yet available) just last week.  This bill would make permanent all the telehealth policies and flexibilities granted to Medicare during the pandemic which would include establishing PTs as permanent providers.   

We will keep members updated on these fast-moving developments.