This bill extends several Medicare telehealth and hospital flexibilities that were set to expire, along with other health care payment provisions. It pushes back the deadlines for expanded telehealth access (including removing geographic restrictions, allowing audio-only visits, and permitting more types of providers to offer virtual care) through the end of 2026, and delays in-person visit requirements for mental health telehealth services until 2027. The legislation also extends increased Medicare payments for low-volume and rural hospitals, ambulance services, and the acute hospital care at home program through 2025 or later, while requiring studies on wearable medical devices and fraud risks in lab testing and durable medical equipment. To help pay for these extensions, the bill imposes new transparency and reporting requirements on pharmacy benefit managers working with Medicare drug plans starting in 2027, restricts certain compensation arrangements, and adjusts the phase-in schedule for lab test payment reductions and hospice cap calculations. Overall, the bill affects Medicare patients, hospitals, ambulance providers, telehealth practitioners, and pharmacy benefit managers, with most provisions taking effect between 2025 and 2027 and some funding, such as $113 million for CMS oversight, appropriated for fiscal year 2025.
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