Medicare updates telehealth enrollment and implements provider moratorium

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made certain Medicare enrollment flexibilities for telehealth practitioners permanent. Under this policy, practitioners providing telehealth from home who maintain a separate physical practice location are no longer required to report their home address on enrollment applications. They may instead bill from their physical practice location. However, virtual-only practitioners whose homes serve as their sole practice location must still report their home address, though they can use specific designations to prevent the address from being published on Care Compare.

Separately, the Trump administration has implemented a six-month moratorium on all new Medicare home health and hospice providers nationwide to combat fraud. While intended to protect program integrity, the policy has drawn concern from the provider community regarding its impact on patient access. Critics argue the blanket freeze may lead to longer wait times, reduced availability, and delayed hospital discharges, particularly in rural and underserved areas where healthcare capacity is already limited.