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119th Congress Health

S. 1261: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025

Introduced

  1. Introduced (completed)Apr 2, 2025
  2. Passed Senate (not reached)
  3. Passed House (not reached)
  4. To the President (not reached)
  5. Became law (not reached)

Summary

Introduced in Senate, Apr 2, 2025

This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare.

Among other provisions, the bill

  • permanently removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) and allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services;
  • permanently allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner); and
  • allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to generally waive coverage restrictions during any public health emergency.
Read the full summary

Additionally, the CMS must post certain information about the effects of Medicare telehealth services on its website, including information about utilization, costs, and the outcome of services. The CMS must also (1) provide resources to health care professionals about the requirements for furnishing telehealth services under Medicare, including with respect to payment, patient privacy, and support for underserved populations; and (2) ensure certain quality measures are applied to telehealth services.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Roll calls

0 votes on this bill

No roll call votes have been held on this bill.

Amendments

0 offered

No amendments were offered to this bill.

Cosponsors

73

Bipartisan support.

Who scored on this bill

18 points earned
  1. 1Brian Schatz D-HI SponsorDrew cross-party cosponsors, reached a cosponsor milestone, introduced4 events+18
See all scorers and every scoring event

Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.

Other bills by Brian Schatz

History

  1. Apr 2, 2025Introduced in the Senate by Brian Schatz.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
  1. Apr 2, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Apr 2, 2025Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.