The short version
- Medicare telehealth flexibilities now run through December 31, 2027.
- Patients can keep receiving telehealth at home, with no geographic restriction.
- Commercial and Medicaid telehealth rules are separate and often differ.
- Place of service codes and modifiers still decide how the claim is paid.
Few billing rules have changed as often as Medicare telehealth. The pandemic-era flexibilities were extended again and again, sometimes for only a few months, and they lapsed during the 2025 government shutdown. Each lapse left practices unsure whether to keep video visits, reschedule patients or hold claims.
On February 3, 2026, a federal spending package extended the main Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027, retroactively covering the days they had lapsed. That is the longest runway practices have had since the public health emergency ended.
What the extension covers
- Patients can receive telehealth at home, wherever they live, without the pre-pandemic rural and originating site limits.
- A wider set of practitioners, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, can keep furnishing telehealth.
Some telehealth coverage was already permanent. Medicare coverage of behavioral and mental health telehealth at home was made permanent by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Check the current status of the in-person visit requirement attached to those services before you schedule.
Billing it correctly
Medicare telehealth claims still need the right place of service code, 02 or 10, and modifier 95 where CMS requires it. The two place of service codes are paid differently. Check your Medicare Administrative Contractor's current instructions each January, because these details have changed more than once.
Commercial plans and Medicaid programs set their own telehealth rules, and many differ from Medicare. A visit that is covered for one patient may not be covered, or may need different codes, for the next.
Plan for 2028 now
Two years feels long, but the last few years suggest the rules may change again. If telehealth is a real part of your schedule, keep a list of which services and which patients it affects, so a future lapse is a scheduling decision rather than a surprise.
Telehealth checklist
- Put December 31, 2027 on the practice calendar
- Review your top commercial plans' telehealth policies separately from Medicare's
- Set place of service and modifiers per payer, not with one template
- Confirm claims held during the lapse days have been reprocessed
Sources
- APTAMedicare telehealth flexibilities extended through Dec. 31, 2027↗
- CMSTelehealth↗
- Telehealth.orgMedicare telehealth policy in 2026↗
These articles are general information for practice owners and managers. They are not legal, coding or compliance advice. Payer rules change and vary by plan and state, so check the current source before you act on anything here.