H.R. 5496 — HEALTH Act of 2025

This section amends Medicare telehealth provisions to authorize permanent coverage of audio-only telehealth services furnished by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) serving as distant sites and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise related regulations within 60 days of enactment. It makes permanent cost-related payments for such telehealth services—deeming them outpatient services payable under the FQHC prospective payment system (42 U.S.C. 1834(o)) or RHC reasonable cost methodology (42 U.S.C. 1833(a)(3)), with associated costs treated as allowable in those calculations (previously limited through 2024). The section further eliminates geographic and originating site requirements for telehealth services furnished by FQHCs or RHCs as distant sites and prohibits facility fees to originating sites for such services unless the site is a specified type (e.g., hospital, critical access hospital, FQHC, RHC, or similar).