Omnibus Spending Bill Will Extend Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities for Audiology

Telehealth flexibilities created during the pandemic would be extended for five months as part of the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that passed Congress on March 10 was signed by President Biden on March 15.  

This extension will allow audiologists along with speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists to continue to provide services via telehealth.

For additional detail on the audiology codes available for billing to Medicare during this extension, visit the Academy telehealth updates page.

In addition to extending the current flexibilities, the legislation also would require the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to conduct a study analyzing the use of telehealth services under the Medicare program, telehealth expenditures, and the effects of expanded telehealth coverage on access to care among Medicare beneficiaries.

Further, beginning July 1, the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) secretary would be required to post data about telemedicine service claims to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website every quarter.