KZA Alert: Government Shutdown Ends; Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities Restored

On November 13th, 2025, the 43-day federal government shutdown officially ended, and Congress has passed a continuing resolution funding the government through January 30, 2026. For medical practices, this brings a critical update: Medicare telehealth flexibilities have been restored, extended, and made retroactively applicable to services delivered during the shutdown period.In this KZA Alert, we break down what the continuing resolution means for Medicare providers, including:Which pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities are back in effectHow retroactive coverage applies to claims submitted—or held—after October 1, 2025What specialty practices need to know about resuming telehealth servicesImmediate action steps for billing, coding, scheduling, and revenue cycle teamsWhy this extension represents temporary relief—not a permanent policy solutionThis fast, focused update is designed to help practice leaders, managers, coders, and billers understand what changed, what actions to take now, and how to prepare for the next potential telehealth policy cliff in early 2026.KZA Web Alert and links to sources: https://www.kzanow.com/alerts/telehealth-extended