You can still see the doctor from home

Telehealth coverage under Medicare has lurched from deadline to deadline for the past few years, expiring and getting extended at the last minute more than once, which left a lot of people unsure whether a video or phone visit with their doctor would still be covered. Here is the steadying news: the rules are settled for now. Under legislation enacted earlier this year, Medicare covers most telehealth services delivered to you at home through December 31, 2027. A few specifics are worth knowing because they remove the old fine print that used to trip people up. You no longer have to live in a rural area or travel to a special site to use telehealth for ordinary medical care; you can be at home. Any eligible Medicare provider can furnish these visits, and for non-behavioral care that flexibility runs through the end of 2027. Audio-only visits count too, which matters if you do not have a smartphone or a reliable video connection: a regular phone call with your provider can be a covered telehealth visit. And for behavioral and mental health care specifically, the at-home and audio-only access is not just extended but permanent, so therapy and mental health visits from home are a settled part of Medicare going forward. The honest caveat is the date. The broad, non-behavioral flexibilities are extended, not permanent, so they are scheduled to lapse at the end of 2027 unless Congress acts again, which is the same cliff the program has walked up to before. That is worth filing away for later, not worrying about now. For the next year and a half, the practical takeaway is simple and reassuring: if seeing your doctor by video or phone from your kitchen table works better for you, Medicare covers it, and you do not need to live anywhere in particular to use it.