House votes to extend Medicare telehealth waivers through December 2027

Senate must still act before January 30

On January 22, the House of Representatives passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 which includes language to extend Medicare telehealth waivers through December 31, 2027. These waivers allow occupational therapy practitioners to provide Medicare services via telehealth. Without Congressional action, the waivers are set to expire on January 30. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, although nothing is guaranteed until the bill is passed in both chambers.

The extension adopts language from the Telehealth Modernization Act which was introduced by Reps. Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). Medicare telehealth waivers were first enacted by Congress in 2020, and they were periodically extended until September 2025 when telehealth policy became ensnared in the Congressional spending debate that resulted in a 42-day government shutdown and expiration of the waiver. Congress eventually acted to end the government shutdown in November and extended the telehealth waivers through January 30, 2026 and applied them retroactively.

AOTA is continuing to urge Congress to enact this 2-year waiver extension and to address telehealth permanence during that time.