Whereas telehealth allows health care practitioners to provide services to patients or other practitioners in different physical locations;

Whereas telehealth significantly supported access to quality health care for millions during the COVID–19 public health emergency and remains essential postemergency;

Whereas, in 2024, about 6,700,000 unique Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries received at least 1 telehealth service, with one-quarter of Medicare FFS beneficiaries utilizing telehealth;

Whereas the number of Medicare FFS telehealth users in 2024 is 24 percent higher than in 2019, prepandemic;

Whereas the percentage of Medicare FFS beneficiaries using telehealth has remained relatively stable in 2024;

Whereas increased access to telehealth over the past 5 years has positively shifted patients’ and providers’ perceptions, with study findings indicating greater openness to using telehealth services;

Whereas telehealth is now fully integrated into our health care system and patients’ care journeys, and it is essential that these flexibilities be preserved beyond September 30, 2025;

Whereas legislative efforts to increase telehealth access have garnered broad bicameral bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives;

Whereas data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey indicate that individuals with disabilities are more likely to use audio-only services, with the highest usage among Medicare beneficiaries with multiple disabilities (41.8 percent);

Whereas the United States has the opportunity to improve broader access to health services for all individuals, including members of rural and underserved communities; and

Whereas Telehealth Awareness Week, September 14, 2025, through September 20, 2025, unites the efforts of patients, caregivers, health care providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance the role of telehealth in health care: Now, therefore, be it