This resolution designates the week of September 14–20, 2025 as Telehealth Awareness Week and notes telehealth’s role in delivering care during the COVID-19 emergency and its ongoing importance afterward. It cites Medicare data from 2024 to illustrate telehealth use and signals Congress’s intent to keep telehealth options available beyond September 30, 2025.
By uniting patients, caregivers, providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, the measure frames telehealth as a durable component of the health care system. The resolution then urges a set of steps aimed at preserving and expanding telehealth access: continue telehealth flexibilities beyond 2025, raise awareness of telehealth benefits, highlight provider and patient resources, collect and analyze data on telehealth impacts, and promote continued, permanent access across communities and settings.
At a Glance
What It Does
Designates September 14–20, 2025 as Telehealth Awareness Week and expresses a sense of Congress regarding telehealth’s role and future. It further urges actions to preserve flexibilities, raise awareness, provide resources, and collect data to inform ongoing telehealth policy.
Who It Affects
Affects health care providers offering telehealth, Medicare beneficiaries who use telehealth, health systems and payers supporting telehealth services, and public health agencies responsible for outreach and data collection.
Why It Matters
Sets a formal acknowledgment of telehealth’s importance, reinforces demand for continued access after 2025, and creates a political signal to align stakeholders around data-informed expansion and sustained telehealth use.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The bill is a non-binding resolution that formally designates a Telehealth Awareness Week and highlights telehealth’s impact on care delivery. It references Medicare data from 2024 to demonstrate telehealth usage, including the total number of beneficiaries who used telehealth and the share of beneficiaries who used these services.
The resolution notes that telehealth has become integrated into health care journeys and emphasizes the need to preserve flexibilities beyond a sunset date. It then calls on Congress to take concrete steps—beyond simply recognizing telehealth—to maintain access, spread awareness, provide resources, collect data, and ensure telehealth remains available to diverse communities in the long term.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The week of September 14–20, 2025 is designated as Telehealth Awareness Week.
Telehealth played a significant role in the COVID-19 response and remains essential post-emergency.
In 2024, about 6.7 million Medicare FFS beneficiaries received at least one telehealth service.
The resolution urges continuing telehealth flexibilities beyond September 30, 2025.
It calls for data collection and ongoing access to telehealth across communities and settings.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Designation of Telehealth Awareness Week
This section designates the week of September 14–20, 2025 as Telehealth Awareness Week and signals the Congress’s acknowledgement of telehealth as a lasting component of health care delivery. While the measure is ceremonial in nature, it frames telehealth as a priority for policy attention and public messaging.
Recognition of telehealth impact and data context
This section underscores telehealth’s role in delivering care to patients across the United States and references Medicare data from 2024 to illustrate usage patterns. It notes that telehealth has expanded access and that its usage remained robust across this period, setting the context for continued support and analysis.
Urges steps to preserve and expand telehealth access
This section outlines five action items: (A) continue the telehealth flexibilities beyond September 30, 2025; (B) raise awareness about the benefits of expanding telehealth; (C) highlight resources for providers and patients regarding telehealth; (D) collect and analyze data on the impacts of telehealth; and (E) promote continued access to telehealth for all communities and across settings on a permanent basis.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Healthcare across all five countries.
Explore Healthcare in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Medicare FFS beneficiaries who rely on telehealth for timely access to care, especially in rural or underserved areas.
- Rural health clinics and small practices that deploy telehealth to reach patients who would otherwise face access barriers.
- Health care providers and systems that deliver telehealth services and rely on flexible delivery models.
- Telehealth technology platforms and vendors that support remote care capabilities.
- Caregivers and patients with disabilities who benefit from flexible telehealth modalities and audio-enabled access.
Who Bears the Cost
- No new funding is created by the resolution, but federal agencies may incur administrative costs to collect and analyze telehealth data.
- Providers and health systems may incur ongoing IT and training expenses to maintain telehealth capabilities and meet data collection needs.
- Payers and insurers may face administrative costs related to ongoing coverage decisions and beneficiary communications about telehealth options.
- State, local, or professional associations may incur costs to support Telehealth Awareness Week outreach and stakeholder education.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing an explicit aim to preserve and expand telehealth access with the realities of cost, oversight, and quality control. Extending flexibilities may increase access but also raises questions about funding, provider capacity, and appropriate use, which must be resolved through future policy design.
Because this is a non-binding resolution, there are no new statutory mandates or funding requirements. The bill’s value lies in signaling congressional interest, guiding public messaging, and encouraging policy actions that could influence future, more concrete telehealth rules.
The practical tensions revolve around preserving existing flexibilities without creating a pattern of unfunded mandates, ensuring telehealth is used appropriately, and protecting patient privacy as data collection and surveillance of telehealth impacts expand. Real-world implementation would depend on subsequent legislation, agency guidance, and appropriations to sustain data collection and outreach efforts.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.