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Ensuring Access To Care: The Fight For Permanent Telehealth Flexibilities

Published in Government Relations on April 16, 2025

By: Adam Miller

Americans utilizing telehealth services to access healthcare is at an all-time high. It’s a convenient method without having to leave the home, giving access to healthcare professionals from anywhere. It expands a patient’s choice of provider and enables the provider the ability to see more patients.  

Telehealth usage surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to available data, nearly 25% of Americans still receive essential access to care via telehealth in a given month. Several flexibilities to expand the use of telehealth were enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently extended—most recently within the 2024 end-of-the-year funding bill through Sept. 30, 2025. However, without Congressional action, many of these flexibilities will expire.   

There have been recent efforts to protect these flexibilities—a bi-partisan coalition of legislators have come forth in both chambers and have introduced legislation to ensure telehealth flexibilities become permanent.  

The House bill, H.R. 1407, titled “Permanent Telehealth from Home Act,” was introduced by Health Subcommittee Chair Rep. Buchanan (R-FL) and co-sponsored by Rep. Miller (R-OH) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and seeks to remove obstructive geographic limitations to telehealth services. This bill would permanently eliminate the originating site and geographic limitations for using telehealth, which will help patients continue to receive care through telehealth services regardless of location of the provider or the patient. 

Click here to read the full H.R. 1407 text/co-sponsors.  

The Senate bill, S. 1261, titled “Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2025,” was introduced in the Senate by Senator Schatz (D-HI) with a staggering 59 original cosponsors (30 Republican, 27 Democratic, and 2 Independent) signing on. The CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 aims to: 

  • Permanently remove all geographic restrictions on telehealth services and expand originating sites to the location of the patient, including homes; 
  • Permanently allow health centers and rural health clinics to provide telehealth services; 
  • Allow more eligible healthcare professionals to utilize telehealth services; 
  • Remove unnecessary in-person visit requirements for telemental health services; 
  • Allow for the waiver of telehealth restrictions during public health emergencies; and 
  • Require more published data to learn more about how telehealth is being used, impacts of quality of care, and how it can be improved to support patients and healthcare providers. 

The CONNECT for Health Act was first introduced in 2016 and is considered the most comprehensive legislation on telehealth in Congress.  

Since 2016, several provisions of the bill have been enacted into law or adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including provisions to remove restrictions on telehealth services for mental health, stroke care, and home dialysis. The CONNECT for Health Act has the support of more than 150 organizations including the American Medical Association, AARP, American Hospital Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of Rural Health Clinics, and American Telemedicine Association among others.  

Click here to read the CONNECT for Health Act text/co-sponsors.  

Contact your legislator and urge them to sign onto these respective bills or thank them for already supporting the efforts to make telehealth flexibilities permanent. VGM will continue to monitor these bills, advocate for additional support, and keep you informed of developments as they occur. 

As always, reach out if you need resources or have additional questions. Together, we can be Champions Of Change.  

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