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200+ stakeholders push back on CMS plan to cut third-party RPM payments

Various groups, including trade associations, health systems and RPM companies, are raising the alarm over the potential fallout from the CMS proposal.

Anuja Vaidya
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Published: 01 Sep 2026

CMS' proposal to end Medicare payments for third-party remote patient monitoring services sent shockwaves through the RPM industry earlier this summer. Now, stakeholders are asking the government to reconsider.

The agency cited fraud risks detailed in Office of the Inspector General reports, stating that having third-party companies provide RPM can result in fragmented care and a lack of oversight by the provider employed by the healthcare facility billing for the care.

Various organizations, including national trade and patient advocacy organizations, health systems and virtual care companies, have submitted comments to the federal government, raising concerns about the proposal's potential to limit healthcare organizations' ability to offer RPM services. This could cut patients off from access to healthcare, they say.

ATA warns of care access challenges

The American Telemedicine Association warns that the changes could make it impossible for healthcare provider organizations to offer RPM services, particularly smaller practices and rural facilities. In a comment letter to CMS, Joe Nye, head of federal government relations at ATA Action, stated that healthcare facilities currently relying on third-party RPM providers will likely be forced to reduce enrollment or eliminate these programs, ultimately leaving patients to pay the price.

"As a result, patients could lose established connections with care teams for reasons unrelated to their clinical needs, and patients could face delays in enrollment following hospitalization, medication changes, new diagnoses, or worsening chronic conditions," he wrote.

"The consequences would be particularly serious for older adults, patients with mobility or transportation barriers, and beneficiaries with heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory disease, and other complex chronic conditions."

The association urged CMS to take a "more targeted, data driven approach" to rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in the RPM arena. This includes further analysis of RPM data to address gaps noted in the OIG reports and to better inform efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse.

Stakeholders send letter urging CMS to delay proposal

More than 200 healthcare organizations sent a letter to CMS late last week, asking the agency not to finalize its proposal to end third-party RPM payments. The signatories included trade associations, like the ATA, American College of Cardiology and National Rural Health Association, as well as health systems, such as ChristianaCare and Stanford Health Care, and virtual care companies, including Cadence, BioIntelliSense and Avel eCARE.

In the letter, the organizations cited concerns similar to the ATA's comments, including that the proposal will reduce patients' access to healthcare. They also noted that the Trump administration has expressed support for greater use of technology to improve chronic disease management and rural healthcare.

"Remote monitoring advances each of these goals," the letter stated. "CMS should expand access to proven technology-enabled care, not dismantle the models that make it possible."

The organizations asked CMS to delay the RPM proposal and instead work with stakeholders on "a balanced approach that protects patients, preserves clinically integrated care, and strengthens program integrity protections."

The final 2027 Medicare PFS rule is expected to be released in November 2026.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers healthcare IT and innovation, including artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, EHRs and interoperability.

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