If you’ve been using your tablet or phone to see your doctor lately, you’re not alone. Millions of us got used to the convenience of "doctoring from the couch" during the pandemic. But lately, there’s been a lot of chatter—and frankly, a bit of panic—about whether the rug is getting pulled out from under us. People keep asking: is medicare stopping telehealth in 2025?
The short answer? No. But it almost did.
Actually, it was a total mess for a few weeks there. Congress basically played a high-stakes game of "chicken" with healthcare funding, and for a minute, we all thought the flexibilities were gone. If you're confused, you have every right to be. The rules have shifted more times than a Kansas weather forecast.
The 43-Day Dark Period and the New Deadline
Here is the deal. Most of the "easy" telehealth rules—the ones that let you stay at home instead of driving to a rural clinic—were supposed to expire at the end of 2024. Then they got bumped to March 2025. Then September.
Then the government shut down.
For 43 days in late 2025, things got really hairy. Because Congress didn't pass a funding bill on time, those special Medicare telehealth permissions actually lapsed on October 1, 2025. Doctors were scrambling. Patients were being told they might have to pay out of pocket or come in person.
Fortunately, on November 12, 2025, a new law called H.R. 5371 (the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2026) was signed. This basically hit the "undo" button. It restored almost all the telehealth perks and made them retroactive.
📖 Related: Products With Red 40: What Most People Get Wrong
The New Date to Watch: January 30, 2026
Basically, is medicare stopping telehealth in 2025? No, they've pushed the deadline. You are safe for the rest of this year. But—and this is a big "but"—the current extension only runs through January 30, 2026.
We are essentially living on borrowed time until Congress decides to make these changes permanent.
What Stays and What Changes Right Now
It's helpful to look at what you can actually do today versus what might happen when the clock strikes midnight next January.
Right now, you can still:
- Have an appointment from home. You don't have to be in a "rural area" or at a doctor’s office to use telehealth. Your living room counts as an "originating site."
- Use audio-only. If your Wi-Fi is acting up or you just aren't tech-savvy, you can still do a regular phone call for many services.
- See more types of specialists. Physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists are still allowed to see you virtually. This is huge because, before the pandemic, Medicare was really stingy about who could bill for virtual visits.
But here is the catch. If Congress doesn't act again before January 31, 2026, we go back to the "Old Way."
In the Old Way, you generally had to live in a rural area to get telehealth. You also usually had to travel to a local clinic just to sit in front of a computer to talk to a specialist somewhere else. It was weird. It was clunky. And nobody wants to go back to it.
👉 See also: Why Sometimes You Just Need a Hug: The Real Science of Physical Touch
The Mental Health Exception (The Good News)
There is one area where things are a bit more stable: mental health.
Medicare actually made some of the behavioral health changes permanent a while ago. If you are seeing a therapist or psychiatrist for mental health, you can generally continue doing that from home regardless of where you live.
There’s a small hiccup, though. There is a rule lurking in the shadows that says you might eventually need an in-person visit every 12 months to keep getting virtual mental health care. The government keeps delaying this requirement, and currently, it’s pushed back until after January 30, 2026.
If you started your mental health treatment via telehealth before that date, you might even be "grandfathered in" under slightly different rules. It’s a bit of a legal maze, but the bottom line is that mental health care is much safer than, say, a virtual check-up for your blood pressure.
Why Does This Keep Happening?
You might be wondering why they don't just make it permanent and call it a day.
Money. It always comes down to the budget.
✨ Don't miss: Can I overdose on vitamin d? The reality of supplement toxicity
Some lawmakers worry that if telehealth is "too easy," it will lead to fraud or "over-utilization" (basically people going to the doctor more than they need to). However, groups like the American Telemedicine Association and the APTA (Physical Therapy Association) argue the opposite. They see the data. They see that people who use telehealth often stay healthier because they don't skip appointments.
Honestly, the "genie is out of the bottle," as some experts like to say. But until the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and lawmakers agree on the long-term costs, we are probably going to keep seeing these 3-month or 6-month extensions. It's frustrating for doctors who have to decide whether to keep paying for expensive telehealth software, and it's stressful for you as a patient.
Specific Services Facing the "Cliff"
When we talk about is medicare stopping telehealth in 2025, we have to mention the specific providers who are most at risk.
- Physical and Occupational Therapists: These folks were not originally on the list of permanent telehealth providers. If the extension expires in January 2026, they lose the ability to bill Medicare for virtual sessions.
- Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs): These centers are lifelines for many, but their special "distant site" status is also tied to that January deadline.
- Hospice Recertification: Right now, a doctor can check in via video to recertify someone for hospice care. That's another flexibility that could vanish.
Actionable Steps for Patients and Caregivers
Don't just wait for the news to tell you what happened. If you rely on these services, you've got to stay ahead of the game.
- Talk to your doctor now. Ask them, "Hey, if the rules change in January, how will that affect our appointments?" Most clinics are tracking this closely.
- Keep your in-person options open. While nobody likes the drive, make sure you have a plan for in-person visits just in case the "rural only" rule snaps back into place.
- Watch the "Place of Service" code. If you look at your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN), look for Code 10. This means the service was provided in your home. As of now, Medicare pays your doctor the same rate for this as they would for an in-person office visit. If that changes, your doctor might be less likely to offer the service.
- Advocate if you care. There are dozens of bills in the works right now, like the Telehealth Modernization Act and the CONNECT for Health Act. Both aim to make these perks permanent. A quick letter to your representative can actually move the needle when these funding bills come up.
The reality of is medicare stopping telehealth in 2025 is that the service is "safe" for the calendar year, but the infrastructure is shaky. We are in a "wait and see" period. For now, keep your appointments, keep using your video calls, and just keep one eye on the calendar for January 2026.
Check your Medicare.gov portal regularly. They usually post a "What's New" section every time a new law passes. If you see another "Continuing Resolution" mentioned in the news, that’s your signal that the telehealth deadline has likely been moved again.