Expanded Telehealth Access Act
Sponsored By: Senator Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced
Summary
Expands Medicare telehealth payment eligibility to more health professionals. It would add specific practitioners and certain facilities to the list Medicare can pay for telehealth services.
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- Medicare beneficiaries could receive telehealth from more individual providers, including qualified audiologists, qualified speech-language pathologists, qualified occupational therapists and their supervised occupational therapy assistants, and qualified physical therapists and their supervised physical therapist assistants.
- Occupational therapy assistants and physical therapy assistants would be eligible for payment for distant-site telehealth services and would be paid consistent with how assistants are paid under existing Medicare rules.
- Facilities that furnish services described in paragraphs (8) or (9) of section 1833(a) could bill Medicare for those services when provided via telehealth, and the Secretary could add other enrolled providers or suppliers who furnish telehealth services.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
More Medicare telehealth providers covered
If enacted, Medicare would cover telehealth services from more kinds of therapists and some facilities. Qualified audiologists, occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and certain facilities would be added for services furnished on or after the date of enactment. Occupational therapy assistants and physical therapy assistants would be paid for telehealth when the supervising practitioner was at a distant site, and would receive the amount that would have been paid under the Medicare rules for such assistants. The bill would also change a legal cross‑reference in a Medicare telehealth payment rule upon enactment, which would change how some providers and administrators interpret payment eligibility.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Daines, Steve [R-MT]
MT • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
MN • D
Sponsored 2/11/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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