Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act
Summary
SB 248, the Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act, would make permanent and expand Medicare telehealth flexibilities for cardiac rehabilitation, intensive cardiac rehabilitation, and pulmonary rehabilitation services. The bill amends the Social Security Act to allow these services to be furnished in a patient’s home through real-time audio-visual telehealth technology, and in some cases to treat the home as a provider-based location of a hospital outpatient department. It also broadens the telehealth framework so that hospitals, in addition to physicians and other practitioners, may furnish covered telehealth services for these rehabilitation programs.
The bill further directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards for designating a patient’s home as a provider-based hospital location consistent with prior “Hospital Without Walls” waivers, and to identify these rehabilitation services as telehealth services under Medicare. The amendments and standards would generally take effect for services furnished on or after January 1, 2026, and the Secretary is authorized to implement the changes through program instruction or other administrative means.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would change Medicare coverage rules under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act by permanently extending and codifying pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities for cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. It would affect Medicare beneficiaries who need cardiac or pulmonary rehab, as well as hospitals, physicians, and other practitioners that provide these services, by allowing more home-based and virtual delivery options and reducing geographic and originating-site restrictions for certain telehealth visits. It would also require HHS to set standards for hospital-based home designation and update telehealth policy administration.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the limited legislative context provided, the measure appears to have a generally supportive and bipartisan framing. It was introduced by Senators Blackburn and Klobuchar, suggesting cross-party sponsorship, and the title and structure indicate an effort to preserve access to clinically important rehabilitation services after COVID-era waivers. No committee transcript or vote record is available here, so there is no evidence of recorded opposition or formal debate in the provided materials.
Contention
The main policy issue likely to draw scrutiny is the expansion of Medicare telehealth beyond temporary pandemic waivers, especially the treatment of a patient’s home as a provider-based hospital location and the relaxation of geographic and originating-site limits. Potential concerns could include program integrity, oversight, patient safety, and whether virtual rehabilitation provides equivalent clinical outcomes to in-person care. Supporters would likely emphasize access, convenience, continuity of care, and reduced travel burdens for patients with cardiac or pulmonary conditions, while any critics would likely focus on cost, fraud risk, and the administrative complexity of implementing the new standards.