Yes, Medicare covers telehealth services, and the rules are more flexible now than they were before the pandemic. Through December 31, 2027, you can receive telehealth visits from anywhere in the United States, including your home, with no geographic restrictions. This applies to a wide range of services under both Original Medicare (Part B) and Medicare Advantage plans.
What Medicare Telehealth Covers
Medicare Part B covers telehealth for many of the same services you’d normally receive in person. This includes office visits, psychotherapy, consultations, and a long list of specific services: depression screenings, cognitive assessments, diabetes self-management training, medical nutrition therapy, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, speech therapy, caregiver training, and advance care planning, among others.
Your Annual Wellness Visit can also be done via telehealth. CMS pays for both initial and subsequent wellness visits delivered remotely, though some components like measuring weight and blood pressure may need to be handled differently than they would in an exam room.
Telehealth visits are billed through Part B, so the same cost-sharing applies as with in-person visits. You’ll pay your Part B deductible and the standard 20% coinsurance on the Medicare-approved amount, unless you have supplemental coverage that picks up some or all of that cost.
Phone Calls vs. Video Visits
Most telehealth services require a two-way audio and video connection, meaning both you and your provider need to be on camera. However, audio-only phone calls qualify in certain situations. If your provider has the ability to do video but you can’t use it or prefer not to, a phone-only visit still counts as telehealth for any service delivered to you at home.
For non-mental health services specifically, audio-only platforms are allowed through December 31, 2027, without any additional conditions. This is particularly useful if you don’t have reliable internet access or aren’t comfortable with video technology.
Beyond full telehealth visits, Medicare also covers two lighter-touch options: e-visits, which are non-face-to-face messages exchanged through an online patient portal, and virtual check-ins, which are brief real-time conversations that typically last 10 minutes or less.
Mental Health Has Its Own Rules
Mental and behavioral health telehealth gets some of the most generous treatment under Medicare. Congress permanently removed geographic and location restrictions for behavioral health telehealth in 2021, meaning you can receive therapy, psychiatric visits, and other mental health services from your home regardless of whether you live in a rural or urban area. This is not a temporary flexibility. It’s permanent law.
There is one catch that kicks in after 2027. Starting January 1, 2028, new patients will need an in-person visit within six months before their first mental health telehealth appointment. After that initial visit, you’ll need at least one in-person appointment every 12 months to keep receiving mental health care via telehealth. But through the end of 2027, this in-person requirement is waived entirely.
There’s a useful workaround built into the timing: if you start receiving mental health telehealth services on or before December 31, 2027, you’ll be considered an established patient. That means you won’t need the initial six-month in-person visit. You’ll only need to have one in-person visit per year once 2028 arrives.
Medicare Advantage Plans Often Cover More
If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), your telehealth benefits may be broader than what Original Medicare offers. Medicare Advantage plans must cover everything Original Medicare covers, but they have flexibility to add telehealth services that traditional Medicare doesn’t routinely include.
Since 2020, Medicare Advantage plans have been allowed to build telehealth costs into their basic benefit package. This means they can offer telehealth access as a standard feature, not just a temporary pandemic measure. After 2027, when some of the temporary flexibilities in Original Medicare may expire, Medicare Advantage plans can continue offering these expanded telehealth benefits regardless. If broad telehealth access matters to you long-term, this is worth considering when comparing plans during open enrollment.
What Happens After 2027
Most of the current telehealth flexibilities in Original Medicare are authorized through December 31, 2027. Congress has extended these rules multiple times since the pandemic, but they are not yet permanent for non-mental health services. Here’s what’s currently set to change if Congress doesn’t act again:
- Home as a location: For non-behavioral health services, the ability to receive telehealth at home rather than traveling to an approved medical facility would revert to pre-pandemic rules.
- Geographic restrictions: Telehealth for non-mental health services could again be limited to patients in rural areas.
- Audio-only access: Phone-only visits for non-mental health services would lose their temporary authorization.
- Mental health in-person requirements: The six-month and annual in-person visit rules for behavioral health telehealth would take effect.
Behavioral health telehealth from home, without geographic limits, is permanently protected by law. Everything else depends on whether Congress extends or makes permanent the current flexibilities before the end of 2027. Given that these rules have already been extended several times with bipartisan support, many observers expect another extension, but nothing is guaranteed.
How to Use Telehealth With Medicare
Using telehealth on Medicare is straightforward. Your provider’s office will typically schedule the visit and send you a link or phone number. You don’t need to apply for telehealth access or get prior authorization from Medicare. If a service is on Medicare’s approved telehealth list and your provider offers it remotely, it’s covered.
The visit can happen through your computer, tablet, smartphone, or a regular phone call depending on the service. Community health centers and rural health clinics can also serve as your telehealth provider through 2027, which expands access in areas where specialists are scarce. If you’re unsure whether a specific service qualifies, your provider’s billing office can check the current Medicare telehealth services list, which CMS updates regularly.