Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act

Key Points

• This bill permanently removes the geographic restrictions that currently limit where Medicare patients can receive telehealth services. Starting January 1, 2027, patients anywhere in the country can use telehealth from home, not just those in rural or underserved areas as previously required.
• Critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, and federally qualified health centers get new authority and dedicated payment rates to serve as telehealth providers. Critical access hospitals would be reimbursed at 101% of reasonable costs for telehealth services.
• Audio-only phone appointments become a permanent option for Medicare telehealth starting in 2027. This helps seniors who lack broadband internet or video-capable devices still access care by phone, with payment equal to what a video telehealth visit would receive.
• Store-and-forward telehealth technology, previously limited to demonstration programs in Alaska and Hawaii, becomes available nationwide. This allows doctors to review patient data like images and test results at a later time rather than requiring a live connection.
• To protect care quality, patients generally need an established relationship with their provider before using telehealth. The government must also review audio-only telehealth within five years to assess whether broadband improvements have reduced the need for phone-only visits.