To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove in-person requirements under Medicare for mental health services furnished through telehealth and telecommunications technology.

HR1867, introduced March 5, 2025, in the 119th Congress, amends Section 1834(m)(7) of the Social Security Act to permanently remove the in-person evaluation requirement for Medicare mental health services delivered via telehealth. The bill strikes the sunset date (April 1, 2025) for these flexibilities that were originally tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency. This is a clean, single-purpose bill with no authorized spending—it is a regulatory exemption, not a funding bill. The bill was referred to both Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, indicating jurisdictional overlap on Medicare policy.

The money trail here is indirect but significant. No new money is authorized; instead, the bill removes a regulatory barrier that would have reduced revenue for telehealth providers. Without this bill, Medicare mental health telehealth visits would require an in-person visit within 6 months of the first telehealth visit after the sunset, creating administrative burden and likely reducing patient volume for virtual mental health providers. The Congressional Budget Office would score this as a cost to the Medicare program (more utilization remains), but the mechanism is purely regulatory.

Structural winners are pure-play telehealth platforms: Teladoc ($TDOC) and American Well ($AMWL). Teladoc derives approximately 70% of its revenue from mental health services (BetterHelp + integrated mental health), and Medicare represents a growing share of its US business. American Well's enterprise contracts with health systems depend on Medicare reimbursement stability for their virtual care offerings. Hospitals with in-house telehealth programs (HCA, $HCA; Universal Health Services, $UHS) are indirect beneficiaries, but the impact is smaller relative to their total revenue. Diversified technology companies with telehealth offerings (Amwell's existing platform, not Google or Microsoft) are less impacted since mental health telehealth is a smaller fraction of their business.

Real market data shows the market has already priced in some optimism: $TDOC is up 15.76% over 30 days to $5.95 (52-week range $4.40-$9.77), and $AMWL is up 18.38% to $6.12 (52-week range $3.71-$9.15). Both stocks remain well below their 52-week highs, suggesting the market sees this as a necessary regulatory fix rather than a catalyst that alone returns them to prior highs. The 7-day changes (TDOC +4.39%, AMWL +0.33%) show mixed short-term momentum, possibly reflecting the early legislative stage.

The legislative timeline: HR1867 is in early-stage—referred to two committees with no hearings or markups yet. The bipartisan sponsorship (4 cosponsors including Rep. Suozzi, a Democrat on Ways and Means) improves passage odds in the Republican-controlled House. The bill would need to pass both chambers and be signed by the President. Given the narrow, non-controversial scope (permanent removal of a sunset that most providers already assume will expire), this has a moderate-to-high chance of passing in some form, possibly as part of a larger healthcare extenders package or mental health parity bill.