On Feb. 9, 2018, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA). This wide-reaching legislation enacts major changes for telehealth policy in Medicare by incorporating policies from the Senate's Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act. These policy changes from the CHRONIC Care Act represent the most significant legislative advances for Medicare's telehealth policy in several years.

Building on those changes, a bill is expected to be drafted in the House Committee on Ways and Means seeking to widen telemedicine coverage under Medicare to help reduce unnecessary hospital visits by Medicare patients. The legislation would expand the coverage of telehealth services under Medicare with the goal of reducing expensive, unnecessary hospital visits.