Effective Through March 31, 2025

Some key telehealth services will be extended until March 31, 2025, as part of the American Relief Act, signed by President Biden on December 21. The service flexibilities originated in March 2020 in response to the pandemic and have been temporarily extended several times. The Relief Act authorizes the extension of a number of federal services as well as federal relief to victims of natural disasters.

Most notably, the requirement for an initial in-person visit prior to a telehealth visit is delayed until March 31, 2025. The bill also continues the extension of telehealth services to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Rural Health Centers (RHC).

Effective Through December 31, 2025

These temporary extensions for Medicare beneficiaries follow on the heels of the November 15, 2024, announcement by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend—for the third time--flexibilities for the prescribing of controlled medications, effective through December 31, 2025.

These telemedicine flexibilities authorize qualified health professionals to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled medications via telemedicine, including Schedule III-V narcotic- controlled medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid use disorder via audio-only telemedicine encounters.

The DEA and HHS are in the process of developing final telemedicine regulations but sought the temporary extension to December 31, 2025, citing the need for additional time to create a longer-term set of rules for teleprescribing while preventing unnecessary disruptions in care in the meantime.

For up-to-date information about telehealth rules and regulations visit the APA telehealth blog.

For related information see the Psychiatric News article, "DEA, HHS Announce Third Extension of Pandemic Telehealth Prescribing Flexibilities."