New telehealth rules: 5 takeaways on temporary flexibilities for 2025

With the passage of the American Relief Act, 2025, certain telehealth flexibilities initially introduced during the public health emergency (PHE) era have been extended. These provisions, however, are only authorized through March 31, 2025.

A Jan. 9 blog post by Coronis Health breaks down what the extensions mean for telehealth providers and patients, what services and features were left out and why certain changes could become permanent in 2025.

Five takeaways:

1. Telehealth services can now be offered to patients at any location within the U.S., including their homes. This removes previous geographic constraints, allowing greater access to care. Additionally, practitioners now have more ways to treat patients, with a wide range of healthcare professionals — including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical social workers and registered dietitians — authorized to deliver telehealth services.
   
   
2. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics are permitted to offer and receive reimbursement for telehealth services. Audio-only telehealth services are now covered and reimbursable, allowing for flexible communication methods when video technology is inaccessible to patients.
   
   
3. The requirement for an in-person examination before delivering telehealth mental health services has been delayed. This provision eases access to mental health resources via telehealth. Similarly, with in-home care now more accessible, telehealth can be used for required face-to-face encounters prior to certifying a patient's eligibility for hospice care.
   
   
4. Broader telehealth extensions were largely left out and certain measures did not make it into the act. Notably, it excluded first-dollar coverage for telehealth services under high-deductible health plans with health savings accounts (HDHP-HSA), potentially leaving consumers vulnerable to high out-of-pocket costs. It also did not include coverage for cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services via telehealth.
   
   
5. Medicare will not be using the new codes created within the audio-video code set, per CMS. Organizations are instructed to use codes as if patient encounters are conducted face to face.