bipartisan legislation they introduced which would extend Medicare patients’ access to telehealth services for an additional two years, as well as make needed program reforms so seniors can continue to receive critical medical care at home
Extend Medicare telehealth access for an additional two years and advance related program reforms so seniors can continue receiving care at home.
Occurrences
Evidence
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House committee section-by-section materials for H.R. 7148 state that Sec. 209 extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2026, adds a special payment rule for telehealth services furnished by Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics, and adds modifiers for certain telehealth uses; Sec. 210 also requires a new modifier for hospice face-to-face telehealth recertification encounters; Sec. 211 extends Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver flexibilities through December 31, 2029; Sec. 214 allows certain cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services to be furnished via telehealth at a beneficiary’s home under Medicare in 2025 and 2026.
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CMS says its CY 2026 updates reflect section 6209 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which extended the ability of PTs, OTs, and SLPs to furnish telehealth services, including telephone assessment and management codes 98966-98968, through December 31, 2027, and adds revised remote therapeutic monitoring codes.
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CMS’s telehealth page says additions or deletions to the Medicare telehealth services list are made effective on a January 1 basis and that the annual physician fee schedule is the vehicle CMS uses for those changes; the page was updated with a February 26, 2026 telehealth FAQ.
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Section 6209 keeps Medicare telehealth flexibilities in place by moving the end date for geographic and originating-site limits, eligible practitioners, FQHC/RHC telehealth, audio-only telehealth, and related mental-health telehealth policies to December 31, 2027.
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The same law also extends acute hospital care at home waiver flexibilities to September 30, 2030, adds in-home cardiopulmonary rehabilitation flexibility through January 1, 2028, and directs HHS to issue telehealth guidance for people with limited English proficiency.
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CMS updated the therapy-services page to reflect section 6209 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, extending PT, OT, and SLP telehealth services, including certain telephone assessment codes, through December 31, 2027.
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The House Ways and Means Committee said President Trump signed H.R. 7148 into law and that it contained health policies championed by Ways and Means members, including a "2-year investment in Medicare telehealth flexibilities" tied to H.R. 8261, the "Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act" by Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona's 1st District.
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The Clerk recorded H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, as passed on the motion to concur in the Senate amendments by 217 yeas to 214 nays. The member vote list records Schweikert, Republican of Arizona, as voting Nay.
Assessments
Congress enacted a same-term two-year Medicare telehealth extension through December 31, 2027, along with related home-care and telehealth program reforms. Official committee evidence links the enacted provisions to Schweikert's Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act, giving him material candidate credit even though he voted against the final appropriations vehicle.
Congress did enact the core policy outcome during Schweikert’s current House term: the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 extended key Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027 and included related home-care and telehealth program changes. That matches much of the substance of the promise. However, the provided record does not show that Schweikert personally wrote, sponsored, or materially advanced the enacted provisions; it mainly shows that other federal actors completed the outcome while he was in office. Under the candidate-credit rule, that supports partial rather than full delivery.
Schweikert’s 2024 federal promise was to extend broad Medicare telehealth access for seniors for an additional two years and advance related home-care reforms. The supplied evidence shows same-term legislative and CMS activity extending some Medicare telehealth authorities and related reforms, including therapy-provider telehealth through December 31, 2027, FQHC/RHC payment rules, hospice modifiers, hospital-at-home waiver extension, and limited cardiopulmonary rehab telehealth at home. However, the broad Medicare telehealth extension described in the House materials ran only through December 31, 2026, and several reforms were narrower provider- or service-specific measures rather than the full promised two-year senior access extension. Because there was serious legislative and implementation progress but not full delivery of the promised scope, the appropriate outcome is partial.