Telehealth, hospital-at-home waivers get years-long extensions

Medicare telehealth and hospital-at-home flexibilities have been reinstated after they lapsed over the weekend, when a partial government shutdown took effect. The telehealth flexibilities have been extended through Dec. 31, 2027, while the Acute Hospital Care at Home, or AHCAH, waiver will remain in place until Sept. 30, 2030.

The House narrowly passed the funding package on Feb. 3, and President Donald Trump signed it soon after, ending a four-day partial government shutdown. The Senate passed the funding package on Jan. 30, after Republicans and Democrats resolved their dispute over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, the House did not discuss the amended funding package until it had reconvened on Feb. 2, which led to the shutdown.

The legislation funded key federal agencies, including HHS, for the year, though DHS funding is slated to expire on Feb. 14, giving Congress time to negotiate guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CNBC reported.

The restoration of telehealth flexibilities and the AHCAH waiver offer relief to healthcare providers, following a year of uncertainty marked by short-term extensions, as well as a full government shutdown.

Virtual care proponents applauded the passage of the funding package.

"These extensions provide critical stability and certainty for patients and healthcare providers but also underscore the work still ahead," said Alexis Apple, vice president of public affairs at the American Telehealth Association and deputy executive director of ATA Action, in an emailed statement.

Moving Health Home, a home-based care advocacy group, similarly lauded the regulatory extensions.

"This five-year extension is a critical step toward making hospital-at-home a durable part of our health care system," said Krista Drobac, executive director of Moving Health Home, in an emailed statement. "Long-term certainty allows providers to plan, invest, and scale these programs in ways that benefit patients, caregivers, and communities. Crucially, it also allows large scale collection of data and evidence that we feel confident will definitively convince lawmakers to make this program permanent."

However, telehealth proponents also underscored their commitment to permanency. In her statement, Apple noted that the extensions will give lawmakers and virtual care stakeholders time to discuss making the flexibilities permanent.

"Over the next two years, ATA Action will build on this momentum and continue to push for permanent telehealth policy solutions that reflect how care is delivered today and how patients expect to access care in the future," she said.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.