Overview

• Pandemic-era Medicare telehealth waivers lapsed on Oct. 1, returning coverage to pre-2020 rules that restrict patient locations, eligible providers and some service types.
• The CMS Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative expired on Sept. 30, with the agency instructing hospitals to discharge patients or bring them back to brick-and-mortar settings absent new legislation.
• CMS told Medicare Administrative Contractors to temporarily hold claims, allowing submissions but pausing payments and creating immediate cash-flow risk for providers.
• Providers and advocates report many systems are continuing virtual visits at financial risk while warning that millions of vulnerable beneficiaries could face disrupted access, with most tele-mental-health authorities preserved under a 2021 law.
• HHS says about 41% of its workforce is furloughed during the shutdown, which the department warns will hamper CDC communications and limit CMS oversight of contractors and programs.