Politico September 29, 2025
OPERATING ROOM
As Congress inches closer to a government shutdown, doctors are bracing for a different closure. After Sept. 30, Medicare will no longer cover telehealth visits as it did during the pandemic unless Congress extends or makes permanent coverage granted during the pandemic. That means elderly patients on the health insurance plan would no longer be able to take medical appointments from home.
The looming virtual care cliff is causing alarm among doctors and hospitals, and could soon mean a big inconvenience for patients.
Telehealth has become popular among patients over the last five years. Nearly half of people in traditional Medicare, which enrolls about 33 million older adults, used telehealth in the months after Covid arrived, and more...
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