Advancing Access to Telehealth Act

HR6296, the Advancing Access to Telehealth Act, was introduced on November 25, 2025 by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) with one cosponsor. It has been referred to both the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees — a dual referral reflecting its impact on Medicare reimbursement (Ways and Means) and healthcare delivery infrastructure (Energy and Commerce). The bill is in an early legislative stage. The bill text permanently amends Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act to remove the Sep 30, 2025 expiration date on telehealth flexibilities initially authorized during the COVID-19 emergency. This includes: allowing a beneficiary's home as the originating site for all services (not just certain mental health services); permitting FQHCs and RCHs as distant sites; adding audiologists, PTs, OTs, and speech-language pathologists as eligible practitioners; and making permanent audio-only telehealth coverage. This is an authorization bill — it changes Medicare coverage policy but does not appropriate specific dollar amounts. The Congressional Budget Office would score this as increasing Medicare spending (estimated in the billions over 10 years), but the actual funding flows through existing Medicare trust fund mechanisms, not a new appropriation. For telehealth companies, this removes 'cliff risk' — the threat that Medicare telehealth coverage would revert to pre-pandemic restrictions. This has been the dominant overhang for the sector since 2023. Real market data shows $TDOC at $6.00, up 16.73% over 30 days, and $AMWL at $6.25, up 18.37% over 30 days — both showing a clear re-rating trend since mid-April. The 7-day change is modest (+1.35% and +3.82% respectively), suggesting the market is absorbing this structural improvement gradually. The April 18 Executive Order on psychedelic therapies for mental health is complementary but not directly linked to HR6296. The bill does not address mental health specifically — it broadly expands all telehealth services. The diagnostic companies $LH ($259.57, 7-day -4.79%) and $DGX ($195.05, 7-day -4.39%) are underperforming, likely driven by other sector dynamics (reimbursement rate pressure) rather than telehealth legislation.