Medicare expands telehealth to therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists

What it does

This bill expands which healthcare practitioners can be paid by Medicare for providing telehealth (remote) services. Currently, Medicare covers telehealth from a limited set of providers. The bill adds occupational therapy assistants, physical therapy assistants, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and certain facilities to the list of eligible practitioners, and gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to add more providers as appropriate.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: it expands the roster of practitioners eligible for Medicare telehealth reimbursement. This is a direct access/coverage expansion, not a restriction, subsidy carve-out, or commemorative measure.

What the text implies

• The Secretary gains discretionary authority to add 'any additional provider of services or supplier' to the telehealth roster, creating an open-ended expansion mechanism that may shift the scope of covered services without explicit congressional action.
• Occupational and physical therapy assistants are added only 'under the supervision of' qualified therapists, but the bill does not specify supervision standards, frequency, or enforcement mechanisms, potentially creating ambiguity in compliance.
• Expansion of telehealth eligibility may increase Medicare spending on these services; the bill contains no cost controls, utilization limits, or payment-rate adjustments to offset new coverage.
• Facilities furnishing certain services (§ 1833(a)(8)–(9)) gain telehealth eligibility, but the bill does not clarify which facility types or service categories qualify, deferring definition to existing statute.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens gain expanded access to remote healthcare services from additional qualified practitioners (therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists), potentially reducing travel burden and improving care access, particularly for rural or mobility-limited patients. The bill does not restrict existing benefits or impose new costs on patients.

Who stands to gain

• occupational therapy providers and assistants
• physical therapy providers and assistants
• audiologists
• speech-language pathologists
• telehealth platforms and facilities offering remote services

Named in the bill

Medicare, Social Security Act § 1834(m), Secretary of Health and Human Services, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, telehealth providers

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• Feb 11, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 11, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $280,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 47 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Steve Daines, the sponsor, reported $901,144 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Speech-language-hearing Association — $280,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 15, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.