Telehealth

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Eli Lilly and Company’s oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, Foundayo (orforglipron), for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or those who are overweight with at least one weight-related condition.

The approval introduces a new oral treatment option in a space that has been largely dominated by…

Medical spas continue to expand beyond traditional aesthetic services, and peptides have quickly become one of the more heavily marketed offerings in this space. While these products are often positioned as part of a broader “wellness” model, the legal framework that governs them is far less flexible.

At the federal level, the key issue is…

On April 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified its policies on compounded drugs, including compounded versions of GLP-1 products. Compounders are permitted to produce copies of approved drugs only while those drugs are listed in FDA’s ​shortage database.

GLP-1 products are used primarily for weight loss and diabetes. They include semaglutide (used…

On February 3, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R.7418), which extends certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027. These flexibilities were initially enacted by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising need for telehealth services.

The most important aspect of these flexibilities was that they permitted Medicare beneficiaries to…

Westside Behavioral Care Inc., a Colorado mental health clinic, recently sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado for prematurely terminating its participation agreement. Kaiser terminated the agreement in an effort to increase the provision of services through a less costly telehealth model.

The clinic is alleging that the early termination disrupted care for more than…

As of September 30, several temporary Medicare telehealth flexibilities that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic officially came to an end. One of the most significant changes involves the site requirement for telehealth services. Medicare beneficiaries can now only receive telehealth services other than behavioral or mental health services from specific originating sites…

DMERx, an online DME platform, served as the basis for a massive fraud against Medicare and other insurers. Gregory Schreck, a Kansas man who was the vice president of DMERx, orchestrated a sophisticated fraud scheme to bill Medicare and other insurers over $1 billion, resulting in payments of over $350 million. The scheme used DMERx’s…

On January 29, the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) published its 2025 Work Plan, which provides a preview of the OMIG’s program integrity initiatives for the upcoming year. While this post highlights several areas that the OMIG will focus on, Medicaid providers should refer to the Work Plan for…

On January 16, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced three new telemedicine rules that extend prescribing flexibilities for controlled substances, following the expiration of temporary flexibilities granted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new rules, which include both final and proposed regulations, aim to balance patient access with safeguards against misuse.

The rules apply only…

The American Relief Act, 2025, signed into law on December 21, included a short-term extension of certain telehealth waivers that went into effect in the early days of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. These waivers, for telehealth services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, had been set to expire on December 31, but have now been…