Congress passed a sweeping federal appropriations bill this month, extending Medicare telehealth coverage and prolonging hospital-at-home programs — a development that administrators at Penn Medicine say reinforces the federal government’s long-standing commitment to biomedical research and patient access.
House Bill 7148, signed into law on Feb. 3, preserves pandemic-era healthcare flexibilities that millions of Americans have come to rely on. While the legislation offers temporary reassurance, experts caution that broader funding questions remain as federal budget negotiations continue.
Penn Medicine Leaders Respond to the New Legislation
In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Perelman School of Medicine Dean Jonathan Epstein described the bill as providing “welcome stability” for the biomedical research community. He noted that it “reinforces the longstanding federal commitment to scientific progress” and enables investigators at Penn and across the country to “move forward with greater confidence in the near term.”
However, Epstein also stressed the importance of ongoing advocacy, pointing to uncertainties surrounding federal research funding amid “ongoing budget and policy discussions.” He emphasized that continued engagement is essential to protecting the research investments that drive medical breakthroughs.
Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities: What Changed and Why It Matters
One of the bill’s most significant and immediate impacts is the extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before those pandemic-era changes, Medicare generally limited telehealth reimbursements to patients in designated rural areas or those physically located within a medical facility.
Under the new legislation, Medicare will continue reimbursing telehealth visits for a broader group of patients — including those living in urban and suburban areas who previously did not qualify. This expansion is critical for millions of beneficiaries who depend on virtual visits for routine and specialty care.
Christina O’Malley, Penn Med’s Head of Digital and Emerging Care Transformation, told the DP that the extension is essential for preventing patients from losing access to care. She explained that without congressional action, Medicare would have reverted to pre-pandemic restrictions, cutting off virtual care for most patients living at home in suburban or urban settings.
Penn Medicine had been proactively preparing for what O’Malley described as a potential “telehealth cliff.” Since 2020, the health system has scaled telehealth services to between 2.5 and 3 million patients served — a figure that underscores just how deeply embedded virtual care has become in modern healthcare delivery.
Hospital-at-Home Program Gets a Major Boost
The appropriations bill also extends the federal Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver, which permits hospitals to deliver inpatient-level care directly in patients’ homes through remote monitoring and in-person visits. Penn Medicine is currently planning to launch its hospital-at-home program in April, having previously delayed implementation due to ongoing ambiguity surrounding the waiver’s future.
O’Malley said the extension through 2030 has “supercharged” Penn Med’s ability to launch with confidence and is already shaping institutional strategy. She noted that the model doesn’t just improve patient experience — it actively expands system capacity by adding net beds to the health system.
“That means less patients waiting, more patients getting fast access to care,” O’Malley said.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Research Funding Also Addressed
Beyond telehealth and hospital-at-home provisions, the appropriations package includes measures targeting pharmacy benefit managers — the intermediaries that negotiate prescription drug pricing on behalf of insurers and employers. These provisions reflect growing congressional scrutiny of drug pricing practices and their downstream effects on patients.
For research institutions like Penn Medicine, Epstein emphasized that predictability in federal support is not just helpful — it is critical. Penn Med consistently ranks among the nation’s top recipients of federal research funding, and Epstein pointed to landmark innovations including CRISPR gene therapies and personalized cancer treatments as evidence of what sustained investment can produce. These breakthroughs, he noted, require “sustained, predictable support” that research teams can rely on as they plan studies, hire staff, and conduct clinical trials.
A Path Toward Permanent Policy
Despite the temporary nature of current telehealth extensions, O’Malley expressed optimism that the accumulation of data and evidence will eventually push Congress to act on permanent legislation.
“With additional years and additional data, there’s going to be more knowledge available to draw from and more enthusiasm to pass a permanent bill,” she said.
As healthcare systems continue adapting to the post-pandemic landscape, this federal appropriations bill represents both a bridge and a signal — one that affirms virtual care and home-based treatment are no longer experimental, but essential components of the American healthcare system.
