On November 12, 2025, the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026 was signed into law funding the government through January 30, 2026, and providing additional extensions of waivers to specific telehealth services.
The continuing resolution extends Medicare telehealth waivers, which were previously extended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 through January 30, 2026. These include the following:
- Home as the originating site and no geographic restrictions for Medicare non-behavioral telehealth visits
- Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers as distant-site providers
- Audio-only non-behavioral telehealth visits
- Telehealth that meets the face-to-face recertification requirements for hospice care
- Expanded provider eligibility for general telehealth (i.e., occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists)
- Delayed in-person visit requirements for behavioral telehealth visits
This means that telehealth coverage and policies will return to how they were prior to October 1, 2025, when the government shutdown. O&P suppliers may once again use telehealth visits to establish medical necessity and meet select coverage criteria.
If you have any questions, please contact AOPA staff, Joe McTernan at jmcternan@AOPAnet.org, Ashlie White at awhite@AOPAnet.org or Devon Bernard at dbernard@AOPAnet.org.