Mental health professionals have a new path in 2026, thanks to the CMS Physician Fee Schedule. The new CMS Physician Fee Schedule creates a permanent framework for telehealth services by removing geographical restrictions for telehealth visits and allowing home visits to be paid at non-facility reimbursement rates. Additionally, audio-only services will be reimbursed at the same level as video services for most behaviorally based telehealth encounters.
For millions of individuals living in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas or other remote locations, these changes are more than just changes in regulation—it is the difference between being able to schedule a therapy appointment or not. Providers who effectively implement a well-structured telehealth mental health billing process that incorporates the proper place of service coding, modifiers, and group therapy options have already noted an increase in both volume and revenue.
The most recent data available from multiple industries indicates that telehealth visits conducted from a home-based setting can reduce no-show rates by between 18-30% and increase the number of visits a clinician can provide by 20-40% as a result of eliminating time lost to driving, weather, and childcare. Telehealth has a real impact on those who seek mental health services: the parent who can log in to their service from their car, the rural veteran who no longer has to drive two hours each way for an appointment, and the adolescent user who feels more comfortable and safest accessing their service from their own home than travelling out to receive care.
New telehealth mental health regulations also require stricter compliance. Mental health clinics must maintain accurate documentation of treatment modalities, comply with privacy regulations and keep up with billing codes. Community-based organizations have expressed concern they will not keep up with their larger counterparts who have billing specialists and advanced EHRs.
While patients may not understand the technicalities of telehealth mental health visits, they know that virtual therapy is more personal, private, and consistent than visiting the lobby of a clinic. There is a general agreement that virtual therapy is less intimidating than visiting a clinic for the first time. In terms of hybrid models, success will not only be measured by whether telehealth mental health services provide additional convenience to those who already have access, but rather whether they successfully bridge the gaps between marginalized communities and telehealth mental health services.
Source: AnnexMed – How 2026 Telehealth Policies Affect Mental Health Billing
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