Congress has until September 30, 2025, to extend or make permanent important telehealth flexibilities that lifted geographic and originating site restrictions on telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries and providers. Without Congressional action, those restrictions will return on October 1.
Established by the Department of Health and Human Services during the Public Health Emergency, the added flexibilities expanded telehealth utilization within Medicare and this includes Speech-Language Therapy services. Individuals living in rural areas as well those no longer able to drive due to a chronic disease diagnosis such as Parkinson’s disease have been able to access care without dependence on others.
Telehealth as an option for providing services to patients was a lifeline for my practice, when my physical office was damaged following flooding due to back to back hurricanes in 2024.
Telehealth provided the option for me to maintain continuity of care for patients with access to all of the same privacy protections and treatment tools available to them in person.
September 30 is approaching quickly! The risk is real.
Providers Who Will Lose Telehealth Eligibility
Without additional legislative intervention, providers who received temporary allowance will no longer be eligible to provide telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries. This includes:
- Occupational therapists
- Physical therapists
- Speech-language pathologists
- Audiologists
What I have observed over the last year, is that telehealth access to care has provided the patients I work with greater autonomy and ownership of their treatment program. It has reduced carepartner/caregiver burden as they no longer have to be driven to various office locations for treatment, and patients unanimously report satisfaction with this model of care.
If you have benefitted from speech, voice or swallowing treatment delivered via telehealth, PLEASE, reach out to your legislators and urge them to pass a permanent extension of telehealth services without disruption in care.
Click on the link below to Learn More Here: Telehealth Access For America.org
https://telehealthaccessforamerica.org/
My Mission: To enlist individuals in their treatment, and help them express their personality & spirit through voice. To educate and empower. Mary Spremulli, MA, CCC-SLP * FiTOUR® Group Exercise Instructor * Voice Aerobics® A Whole Body Approach to Voice Practice
Voice Aerobics the heART and Science of Voice Practice