Federal Legislation

Alliance Endorsed Bills

The Alliance has endorsed the following bills, which would lay the foundation for permanent telehealth policies:

• Buchanan’s (R-FL) and Thompson (D-CA) legislation, which would remove geographic requirements and expand originating sites for telehealth services.
• Sherril (D-NJ) and Harshbarger (R-TN) Expanded Telehealth Access Act, which would expand the scope of practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under the Medicare program. Press Release
• Matsui (D-CA) and Johnson (R-OH) Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2023, which would ensure coverage of mental and behavioral health services furnished through telehealth. Press Release
  • Cassidy (R-LA), Smith (D-MN), Thune (R-SD), and Cardin (D-MD) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Press Release
• DelBene (D-WA), Walberg (R-MI), and four bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act of 2023, which would permanently treat telehealth services as an excepted benefit. Press Release.
• Arrington (R-TX) introduced the Telehealth Expansion Act of 2025, which would permanently extend the exemption for telehealth services from certain high deductible health plan rules.
• Blackburn (R-TN), Welch (D-VT), and King (I-ME) introduced the States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment (SHARE) Act, authorize the use of Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history record information for administration of certain licenses.
  • Mann (R-KS) and Neguse (D-CO) introduced companion legislation in the House.

Notable Virtual Care Bills

119^th Congress

• Ezell (R-MS) introduced legislation which would promulgate the final regulations relating to special registration for telemedicine.
• Cassidy (R-LA), Hassan (D-NH), Warnock (D-GA), and Young (R-IN) introduced the Connected Maternal Online Monitoring (MOM) Act which would identify and address barriers to coverage of remote physiologic devices under State Medicaid programs to improve maternal and child health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women. Bill Text Press Release
• Norcross (D-NJ) and Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act which would allow physicians to prescribe Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and other necessary drugs during telehealth visits without needing a prior in-person visit, as well as bill Medicare for audio-only telehealth services. Bill Text Press Release
• Daines (R-MT) and Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Telehealth Expansion Act of 2025 which would permanently allow first-dollar coverage of virtual care under high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) paired with a health savings account (HSA). Reps. Arrington (R-TX), Lee (D-NV), Smith (R-NE), Schneider (D-IL), and Panetta (D-CA) introduced companion legislation in the House. Bill Text Press Release
• Rounds (R-SD) and Smith (D-MN) introduced the Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act of 2025 which would establish a home-based telemental health care grant program for purposes of increasing mental health and substance use services in rural medically underserved populations and for individuals in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. Bill Text Press Release
• Arrington (R-TX), Salinas (D-OR), and LaHood (R-IL) introduced the Ensuring Access to Specialty Care Everywhere (EASE) Act which would require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test a model to improve access to specialty health services for certain Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Sens. Mullin (R-OK), Padilla (R-CA), and Tillis (R-NC) introduced companion legislation in the Senate on April 2. Bill Text Press Release
• Schatz (D-HI) and 59 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the CONNECT for Health Act which would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare and make COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent. Bill Text Press Release
• Norcross (D-NJ) and 25 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act, which would allow for the use of telehealth in substance use disorder treatment. Press Release
• Hern (R-OK), Suozzi (D-NY), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Lee (D-NV), and Malliotakis (R-NY) introduced legislation that would remove in-person requirements under Medicare for mental health services furnished through telehealth and telecommunications technology.
• Feenstra (R-IA) and Pappas (D-NH) introduced the Audio-Only Telehealth Access Act of 2025 which would allow for the furnishing of audio-only telehealth services. Press Release
• Khanna (D-CA) introduced the Telehealth Coverage Act of 2025, which would make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program.
• Leger Fernandez (D-NM) and seven bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Telehealth Access for Tribal Communities Act of 2025 which would make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program for telehealth services furnished by Indian health programs. Press Release
• Lujan (D-NM) and Sullivan (R-AK) introduced the Tech to Save Moms Act which supports the use of technology in maternal health care.
• Miller (R-WV) and Huizenga (R-MI) introduced the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act which would extend certain telehealth flexibilities with respect to hospice care under the Medicare program, and to establish a modifier for recertifications of hospice care eligibility conducted through telehealth. Press Release

118^th Congress

• Carter (R-GA) and 31 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 which would make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program. Sen. Scott (R-SC) and 15 bipartisan cosponsors introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Press Release
• Wenstrup and six bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Primary and Virtual Care Affordability Act which would extend the exemption for telehealth services from certain high deductible health plan rules. Press Release
• James (R-MI), Schweikert (R-AZ), Davis (D-NC) and Peltola (D-AK) introduced the Telehealth Enhancement for Mental Health (TELEMH) Act of 2024 which would establish a Medicare incident to modifier for mental health services furnished through telehealth and other telehealth services. Press Release
• Kelly (R-PA), Thompson (D-CA), and Smith (R-NE) introduced legislation that would expand eligible practitioners to furnish telehealth services.
• Murphy (R-NC), Burgess (R-TX), Van Orden (R-WI), Nehls (R-TC), and Van Drew (R-NJ) introduced legislation that would extend telehealth services for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics.
• Hern (R-OK), Lee (D-NV), Malliotakis (R-NY), and Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the Behavioral Health Accessibility Act of 2024 which would remove in-person requirements under Medicare for mental health services furnished through telehealth and telecommunications technology. Press Release
• Bean (R-FL) introduced the Transparent Telehealth Bills Act of 2024 which would prohibit increased payments under a group health plan or group health insurance coverage for telehealth services furnished by a provider located at a facility. Press Release
• Rep. Hayes (D-CT) introduced the Fair Telehealth Billing Act of 2024 which would prohibit health care providers and facilities from imposing certain facility fees for telehealth. Press Release