H.R. 10376: Telehealth Reporting and Transparency Act of 2026

This bill would require the federal government to collect and publish more information about telehealth services paid for by Medicare.

What the bill would do

• Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit an annual report to congressional committees starting 2 years after enactment.
• The report would cover Medicare telehealth claims from the prior 12-month period and include:
  • the total number of telehealth claims;
  • where those claims came from, including by state and whether the originating site was in a rural or urban area;
  • possible reasons for any major changes in telehealth claim volume or location patterns;
  • breakdowns of telehealth use by age, race, ethnicity, income-related status, disability status, and, when available, preferred language;
  • which groups appear to use telehealth at rates noticeably below the national average;
  • information, where possible, about whether broadband or communications access may be limiting telehealth use;
  • available information on patient outcomes for telehealth used for disease management, behavioral health, or preventive care;
  • an analysis of billing patterns that may suggest improper billing or fraud;
  • information about efforts to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse;
  • the number of physicians and other practitioners who provided telehealth;
  • the specialties of those providers; and
  • reported barriers that physicians and practitioners face in offering telehealth.
• The Secretary would have to use data already available to the government, consider outside factors that may affect telehealth use, and consult with Medicare beneficiaries, clinicians, patient advocates, and other telehealth stakeholders.
• The bill says the government cannot create new reporting or paperwork requirements for physicians and practitioners just to gather this information.
• CMS would have to publish the aggregated information on a public online dashboard in searchable and downloadable form.
• CMS would also have to publish the methods, definitions, and data rules used to prepare the report.
• The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would have to complete an audit of how the law is implemented sometime between 3 and 5 years after enactment, with recommendations for improving the data.

Practical effect

In plain terms, the bill is mainly a data transparency measure. It does not appear to change who can use Medicare telehealth or how telehealth itself is covered. Instead, it would make Medicare telehealth use more visible to lawmakers and the public by requiring regular reporting on who is using it, where it is being used, possible access barriers, and possible billing problems.

Relevant Companies

None found