Key Takeaways

• The CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 aims to make pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities permanent for Medicare patients.
• Pending legislation seeks to remove geographic restrictions and eliminate in-person visit requirements for telemental health.
• If the bill fails, telehealth access for Medicare patients will revert to pre-pandemic limitations and reduced convenience.
• Telemedicine remains vital for rural patients, reducing travel burdens and improving access to behavioral and specialty care.
• States like California are advancing parallel telehealth legislation focused on oversight, access, and data exchange improvements.

Dr. Peter Killcommons, a San Francisco-based physician and entrepreneur, serves as the founder and chief executive officer of Medweb, a pioneering company specializing in telemedicine, radiology, and medical imaging technologies. Since 1992, Peter Killcommons has advanced innovations that enhance healthcare delivery and expand access to care worldwide.

His leadership has also extended beyond technology into humanitarian work – he has provided medical support in conflict zones and underserved regions, contributing equipment and expertise to hospitals in Afghanistan, Peru, and other countries. A member of the American Telemedicine Association, Dr. Killcommons has long advocated for telehealth expansion and improved regulatory frameworks that ensure equitable access to virtual care.

In this article, Peter Killcommons examines the current legislative developments shaping the future of telemedicine in the United States and the potential impact of pending bills on patients and healthcare providers alike.

US Telemedicine at a Crossroads with Bills Awaiting Approval

The telemedicine industry is well established in the United States, with the scope of available services constantly revised to reflect the latest metrics, regulatory concerns, and patient use profiles. In June 2025, legislators introduced the bipartisan bill HR 4206, the CONNECT for Health Act of 2025, into the US House of Representatives.

Supported by the American Medical Association (AMA), the bill employs the acronym CONNECT, which stands for Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies. It seeks to enshrine several temporary pandemic measures from 2021, including measures that ensured Medicare recipients had access to telemedicine and telemental services at home, without the need for in-person visits.

The bill seeks to eliminate geographical restrictions on the provision of telehealth services and to allow Medicare patients to conduct telehealth visits wherever stable audio or video connections are available. The bill also aims to repeal the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 requirement that Medicare patients schedule an in-person physician visit within six months of their first telemental health session.

While Congress has consistently extended such flexibilities over the past five years, no steps have been taken to make them permanent. As of early September 2025, the companion bill to the Senate S. 1261 had 63 bipartisan cosponsors, a sign of progress toward enshrinement in law.

If the bill does not pass, the system will revert to what existed pre-COVID-19, with Medicare patients having minimal telemedicine access and no access in the convenience of their own homes. Before the pandemic, those who wanted to use telehealth services needed to live in approved rural areas and travel to an approved originating site for their consultations. This negated a large portion of telemedicine’s benefits, such as providing timely, informative care in the most convenient location.

Should waivers disappear and regulatory payment flexibilities be eliminated, patients would have less convenient, less accessible health care. This is no small matter for providers. Some 74 percent of physicians work in practices with telehealth, a threefold increase from before the pandemic.

Sanford Health, based in South Dakota, represents the nation’s most extensive rural health system and meets the needs of two million patients annually across 250,000 square miles. Two-thirds of those who rely on telemedicine are 30 miles or more from a major medical center. On average, patient travel is reduced by 176 miles each year through virtual care. In addition, 20 percent of behavioral health patients complete appointments via virtual visits, which have reached nearly a million over the past decade.

This integration of telehealth into the fabric of American health care extends to many providers, with AB 688, California’s Telehealth for All Act of 2025, requiring analyses and reports on telehealth utilization and access in the Medi-Cal program every two years, providing metrics that enable broader, more efficient use of telehealth. In addition, several bills have passed a single California chamber, including one that offers real-time telemedicine perinatal and neonatal consultations to maternity patients who live more than an hour from the nearest rural hospital.

Another bill in process seeks to create a CalHHS Data Exchange Board to improve oversight of data shared among government agencies and healthcare entities. This is particularly critical in an age of telemedicine, when specialists at various hospitals and clinics may be involved in resolving complex single-patient cases.

FAQs

What is the CONNECT for Health Act of 2025?

The CONNECT for Health Act is a bipartisan bill that seeks to make pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities permanent, including expanded Medicare access, reduced restrictions, and the ability for patients to receive virtual care from home.

How would the bill change telemedicine access for Medicare patients?

If passed, the bill would remove geographic limitations and eliminate the in-person visit requirement for telemental health, allowing patients to use telemedicine from any location with a stable internet connection.

What happens if telehealth flexibilities expire?

Medicare patients would return to pre-pandemic rules, limiting telehealth to approved rural areas and requiring visits from designated originating sites, dramatically reducing access and convenience.

Why is telemedicine especially important for rural communities?

Rural health systems like Sanford Health rely heavily on telemedicine to serve patients who live far from major hospitals. Virtual care reduces travel distances, expands specialty access, and improves appointment follow-through.

What other telehealth legislation is being considered?

States such as California are advancing bills to increase telehealth reporting, expand maternal care consultations, and enhance data-sharing oversight through new government health data boards.

About Peter Killcommons

Dr. Peter Killcommons is the founder and CEO of Medweb, a San Francisco-based company specializing in telemedicine, medical imaging, and teleradiology systems. A licensed physician and technology innovator, he has advanced global healthcare access through web-based diagnostic tools and humanitarian missions in underserved regions. Dr. Killcommons has served on the American Telemedicine Association’s board of directors and continues to advocate for policies that expand equitable telehealth access across the United States and abroad.