Call to action: Urge Congress to fund the government and protect patient telehealth access

On Oct. 1, 2025, Congress failed to pass legislation to continue government funding, triggering disruptions across federal programs and threatening access to critical healthcare services. For osteopathic physicians and their patients, the impact is immediate and significant, including:

Telehealth restrictions: With COVID-era flexibilities expired, Medicare patients can no longer broadly access telehealth from home or outside rural areas.
Claims on hold: Medicare has paused claims payments, creating financial strain for physician practices.
Patient care at risk: Reduced telehealth access and delayed payments threaten continuity of care and practice stability.

AOA President Robert Piccinini, DO, D.FACN, and AOA CEO Kathleen S. Creason, MBA, issued a statement calling on Congress to act swiftly to fund the government and restore stability to our healthcare system, and now we need your help. Using our Advocacy Action Center, contact your members of Congress today and urge them to fund the government and protect patient care.

Take action

To further amplify our message, the AOA has created a flyer for your patients encouraging them to take action as well. Patients can scan the QR code on the flyer to send their lawmakers a message emphasizing how critical it is to maintain access to telehealth and ensure continuity of care during this shutdown.