The Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act permanently eliminates Medicare's geographic restrictions on telehealth (video and phone appointments), meaning patients anywhere in the country — not just rural areas — can receive covered telehealth visits from home starting January 1, 2027. Critical access hospitals (small rural hospitals that serve as a safety net) can bill Medicare directly for telehealth services at 101 percent of their costs. Federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics gain a permanent, separately calculated payment rate for telehealth visits. The bill also allows audio-only phone calls to count as telehealth for evaluations, behavioral health, and other services when a patient lacks video capability, subject to a 5-year Secretary review.
Average Household Impact
- Medicare telehealth access for all enrollees — removes the rural-only geographic limit so any Medicare patient can receive covered telehealth from home after January 1, 2027
- Audio-only telehealth coverage — adds phone-call visits for patients who lack broadband or video capability, expanding access for lower-income and older enrollees
Corporate Benefits
- Medicare reimbursement for critical access hospitals as telehealth distant sites — sets payment at 101 percent of costs, a rate above standard cost recovery, benefiting rural hospital operators
Congressional Summary
Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill permanently (1) removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary), (2) allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services, (3) allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner), and (4) expands coverage to include audio-only services for evaluation and management and behavioral health services.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-02-09
- Date Added
- 2026-05-05
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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