When the Medicare telehealth flexibilities expired on October 1, most Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) held back on processing telehealth claims since it was unclear whether the waivers would be extended. Fortunately, when the government shutdown ended on November 13, telehealth claims were once again payable — but not for long.

Keep reading to discover more about extensions to the telehealth flexibilities, and what this means for you.

You’ll Collect for Telehealth Through January

As part of the continuing resolution that reopened the government last week, the telehealth flexibilities are back in place until January 30. This means you can perform, report, and collect for telemedicine appointments for covered codes through the first month of 2026.

In addition, you’ll collect retroactive payments for telehealth visits you performed during the shutdown. If your MAC was holding claims for your telehealth services, they should be released and paid soon. If you were holding these claims yourself, it’s time to submit them to payers.

Advocacy Organizations Seeking Permanent Waivers

As excited as many practices are about the upcoming payment for telehealth, advocacy organizations are eager for Congress to make the telehealth flexibilities permanent. Most recently, extensions had to take place last December, as well as in March and November of this year. The longest extension so far occurred in 2022 and lasted two years, but that expired in 2024.

Telehealth services, while not as popular now as they were during the pandemic, are still billed substantially more often now than they were before 2020, according to statistics from the AMA. If practices are unable to bill for telehealth after January, it could significantly cut into providers’ payments.

Keep an eye on the Training Leader website for continued news about whether the telehealth flexibilities are reconsidered by Congress again in the future.