Reps Walkinshaw, Carter Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Shape the Future of Medicare Telehealth With Better Data

Reps Walkinshaw (D-VA) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) introduced bipartisan legislation to replace fragmented federal reporting with reliable annual data showing who Medicare telehealth is reaching, where access barriers remain, how patients are faring, and where taxpayer dollars may be at risk. The Telehealth Reporting and Transparency Act of 2026 would require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to report annually on telehealth utilization, patient access, available health outcomes, provider participation, and program integrity. The annual report would include:

• National and state-level telehealth utilization, including rural and urban trends;
• Demographic and geographic differences in utilization, including potential broadband barriers;
• Available patient outcomes, provider participation, and barriers to delivering telehealth services;
• Claims patterns that may indicate improper billing and actions CMS is taking to combat fraud, waste, and abuse.