Last year, many Americans found that their medical bills were being returned in the mail with a red stamp saying “DENIED” for medical consultations that used to be free. The federal government shutdown in October 2025 created chaos during the weeks it lasted. Both patients and doctors were left in administrative limbo, not knowing who would pay for telemedicine visits. Fortunately, this uncertainty is over, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have confirmed that all of those bills will be paid.
Despite the chaos that reigned during the government shutdown, the U.S. government has authorized retroactive reimbursement for all affected services. For billing purposes, everything will be processed as if the government shutdown never happened.
Why were my medical bills rejected?
In October 2025, many things were left unresolved, including budgets. Although we may not realize it, many of the laws that govern our society are temporary and have an expiration date. They are simply reevaluated. Among them were the special flexibility permits for telemedicine.
Before the COVID pandemic, medical consultations via webcam or telephone calls were not covered by health insurance. In fact, you had to show up in person at a hospital clinic for the insurance company to approve them. However, with the pandemic, doctors were allowed to see patients who were staying at home via Zoom or telephone.
During the government shutdown, this measure enabling remote medical consultations expired, but there was no government in place to approve it again. As a result, bills for these types of services were denied. This was one of many legal loopholes that left the administration in bureaucratic chaos. However, this has now been resolved.
How to get your telemedicine reimbursement
Now that Congress has signed the extension and CMS has given the order, we have to follow a few steps. If you are a patient and had a telemedicine consultation, you should know that the new regulations exempt you from any penalties for receiving medical care during the government shutdown.
If you paid your medical bill out of pocket for fear of government reprisals—or to avoid credit problems—you should know that you are entitled to a full refund. In fact, your healthcare provider must refund that money to you once Medicare processes the corrected bill.
If you work as a physician or administrative staff, the agency assures that the fastest way is to reissue the rejected bills, rather than appealing them one by one. For the system to accept them, you must indicate that the patient was at home when the telemedicine consultation took place (POS 10), and that it was in real time (Modifier 95). With these codes and the new legislative authorization, the system will release the withheld payments.
Beware, this medical bill payment comes with a deadline
Although we are all relieved that medical bills are reimbursed and we don’t have to pay out of pocket, the legal extension that allows these payments has an expiration date. In fact, these overdue bills will only be processed until January 30, 2026, so we will have to hurry up and get everything sorted out in the next few days before the deadline passes.
FAQs
Will Medicare cover the bill for the telemedicine sessions I had during the shutdown?
Yes, the CMS have confirmed that all medical bills for that time period will be paid. These services will be paid out as if “there had been no governmental interruption at all”. This applies to all services provided between October 1, 2025 and January 30, 2026.
I paid my medical bills out of pocket when Medicare first rejected the bill. Can I get back my money?
Yes, you are entitled to a total reimbursement. Your doctor must send a new medical bill to Medicare. The clinic has to pay back what you paid. Get in contact with your doctor’s office to start the process.
What will exactly happen after January 30, 2026?
The bad news is, this flexibility for payments and reimbursements has a deadline. Unless the Government approves another laW, most telemedicine sessions won’t be covered by Medicare.