The big news on telehealth last week was that the Senate deal to reopen the government will extend Medicare telehealth coverage through January 30. The COVID-era ability of Medicare to pay for virtual care outside of rural health settings expired when the shutdown began on October 1.

Specifically, the extension delayed the reimposition of the geographic restrictions for Medicare non-behavioral telehealth visits and in-person visit requirements for behavioral telehealth visits. The extension also allowed continuation of Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers to remain as distant site provider organizations and reimbursement of audio-only non-behavioral telehealth visits (see Shutdown Deal Extends Medicare Telehealth Coverage and …