What you need to know about telehealth heading into 2026
Earlier this week, Congress passed a temporary funding bill that reopened the federal government through January 30, 2026. While temporary, the measure allows the government to fully operate once again.
Of note to ACG members and GI practices:
- The temporary extension retroactively reinstates the telehealth site of service flexibilities that previously ended on October 1st. CMS also clarified the agency will pay telehealth claims retroactively, as if there hadn’t been a government shutdown.
- The agreement extends the 1% local geographic practice cost index (GPCI) payment floor until January 31, 2026 (previously ended October 1, 2025). The GPCI work floor prevents Medicare physician fee schedule payments from being reduced in areas with labor costs below the national average. These localities would at least get the national average update.
- The agreement extends Medicare sequestration by one month.
- The agreement does not address expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that were among the initial rational for the shutdown in October.
What did Congress Just Pass?
ACG appreciates that Congress recognized the importance of telehealth services by implementing this temporary extension, but a more permanent solution is essential for GI patients and providers.
In the fall, the sudden end of Medicare telehealth flexibilities and uncertainty around their potential reinstatement caused havoc for practices and patients – and this havoc is poised to return if Congress does not act before January 30.
Tell your members of Congress to avoid this scenario and support the bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act.
ACG members know all too well that short-term extensions only create more uncertainty and confusion for GI practices and patients (see: the various and frustrating temporary Medicare physician fee schedule patches). So, it should come as no surprise that the data backs up the frustration.
According to a recent American Medical Association (AMA) study, 1-in-5 GI physicians see more than 20% of their weekly patients through telehealth. Further, a new report from the Brown University School of Public Health found that for the first two and half weeks of the government shutdown, telehealth visits declined by 24% for traditional Medicare beneficiaries, compared to July 1 through September 29.
More on Telehealth: What else was just finalized for Medicare in 2026?
UPDATED November 21
This week, CMS updated its telehealth FAQs, which now stipulates that providers with a physical practice location can still perform telehealth services at home, but bill using that practice address. ACG supported stakeholder efforts to obtain this exact clarification from CMS.
Previously, in the CY 2026 Medicare PFS Final Rule, CMS announced that it would not permit telehealth practitioners to use their practice address when performing telehealth services at home.
From CMS’ updated telehealth FAQs:
Q15: Can distant site practitioners provide telehealth services from their home? Do practitioners need to report their home address on their Medicare enrollment application if they are providing telehealth services from home?
A15: Yes, practitioners can provide telehealth services from their home and in many cases do not need to report their home address. Practitioners who furnish telehealth services from their homes but have a physical practice location are not required to report their home address on their Medicare enrollment application. Practitioners can enroll and bill from their physical practice location as if they furnished the telehealth service in person. Virtual-only telehealth practitioners whose only physical practice location is their home address will need to enroll their home address as a practice location. The practitioner should mark the address as a “Home office for administrative/telehealth use only” location in their enrollment application to suppress the street address details from the practitioner’s profile page on the CMS Care Compare Website, a tool for Medicare beneficiaries to find and compare different Medicare providers. The practitioner may also email the Quality Payment Program service center at QPP@cms.hhs.gov to suppress the street address and/or phone number from the page