Future of Medicare telehealth waivers uncertain as Congress struggles to pass end-of-year legislation
Waivers that allow occupational therapy practitioners and other providers to provide telehealth services under Medicare are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2024. Other pandemic-era waivers, that allow broad access to telehealth services under Medicare will also expire at that time.
At the same time, funding for the Federal Government expires at midnight on December 20th. As Congress negotiates how to keep the lights on, extending Medicare telehealth waivers has been one of the few priorities that continues to be a key part of the discussion. AOTA continues to express the importance of not allowing these waivers to expire and is closely tracking the different end-of-year proposals.
At this time, we do not know if Congress will succeed in preventing a government shutdown or extending telehealth waivers past 2024. We will keep this article updated with the latest news as more information becomes available.
You can write to your elected officials and ask them to preserve access to telehealth services under Medicare, by going to www.aota.org/takeaction.