The CONNECT for Health Act permanently locks in Medicare telehealth rules that were set to expire September 30, 2025, and goes further by removing geographic limits so any beneficiary can use telehealth (not just rural patients) and by allowing the home as an originating site (where the patient is). It makes federally qualified health centers (FQHCs, community clinics that serve low-income areas) and rural health clinics permanent distant sites (where the practitioner is) with their own payment formulas, lets the HHS Secretary waive limits on which types of practitioners can bill for telehealth, and starting January 1, 2026 lets Indian Health Service, Tribal, and Native Hawaiian facilities serve as originating sites with no facility fee. The six-month in-person visit requirement for telemental health is repealed entirely, and hospice recertification face-to-face encounters can permanently be done by telehealth, with a GAO report due in 3 years. A new exception to the Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) law lets providers give patients devices or connectivity needed for telehealth without it counting as illegal beneficiary inducement, as long as it isn't advertised. To guard against fraud, the bill authorizes $3 million per year for fiscal years 2026-2030 to the HHS Inspector General for telehealth oversight and orders CMS to identify and notify physicians with significant outlier billing patterns and post aggregate data publicly. Title III adds beneficiary engagement resources for people with limited English proficiency and disabilities, requires telehealth to be folded into Medicare quality measures within 180 days, and orders CMS to post quarterly data on telehealth utilization, costs, and outcomes.
Average Household Impact
- Medicare telehealth access — permanent for all beneficiaries, not just rural
- Home as a covered telehealth location — no clinic trip required
- Telemental health — 6-month in-person visit rule repealed
- Tribal, IHS, and Native Hawaiian facility access — starts Jan 1, 2026
- Hospice telehealth recertification — made permanent for families
Corporate Benefits
- Telehealth tech vendors — permanent Medicare demand and provider device gifting allowed
- FQHCs and rural health clinics — permanent distant-site payment authority
- Hospice operators — permanent telehealth recertification billing
Transparency & Accountability
- HHS OIG telehealth oversight — $3M/year for FY2026-2030
- CMS outlier-billing detection — physician notifications and public aggregate data
- Quarterly CMS posting — telehealth utilization, cost, and outcome data
- Quality-measure review — telehealth folded into Medicare quality framework within 180 days
- GAO hospice telehealth report — due 3 years after enactment
Congressional Summary
Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2025 or the CONNECT for Health Act of 2025This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare.Among other provisions, the billpermanently removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) and allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services;permanently allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner); andallows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to generally waive coverage restrictions during any public health emergency.Additionally, the CMS must post certain information about the effects of Medicare telehealth services on its website, including information about utilization, costs, and the outcome of services. The CMS must also (1) provide resources to health care professionals about the requirements for furnishing telehealth services under Medicare, including with respect to payment, patient privacy, and support for underserved populations; and (2) ensure certain quality measures are applied to telehealth services.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-04-02
- Date Added
- 2026-05-05
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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