Congress passed legislation Wednesday to end the weeks-long government shutdown, funding the government through January 30, 2026, and reinstating telehealth flexibilities among other healthcare extenders. The final vote in the House was 222-209 with two Republicans opposed to the legislation and six Democrats voting for it, and the bill was signed into law soon after. The bill includes a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through January 30 and provides full fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Legislative Branch, and Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration. It also reinstates through the end of January all healthcare extenders, including: Medicare telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital at Home waiver, Medicare-dependent hospital program, community health centers, prevention of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts, and low-income Medicare programs.

The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) congratulates the following individuals on being selected as 2026 HPNA Award recipients.

HPNA joined a broad alliance of health care providers this week in urging federal policymakers to enact a long-term extension of telehealth flexibilities, restore telehealth services that expired in October, and work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure retroactive payment to clinicians who continued providing telehealth services during this funding lapse. For more information on HPNA’s advocacy work, please join the HPNA Advocacy Network here.

The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) hosted the HPNA Annual Conference last week from October 27–28 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The event kicked off with an insightful keynote presentation delivered by Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD, MA, CHPN®, FAAN, FPCN®. Dr. Ferrell shared insights from her 25 years of experience providing palliative care and urged all nurses to use education as a force for improving care.

Congressional leaders were unable to negotiate a federal funding bill this week, and a government shutdown is now in effect. It is unclear how long this lapse in funding will last; historically, some shutdowns have lasted a few days, and the longest, in 2018, was for 34 days. Among the programs impacted by the funding lapse is one of HPNA’s policy priorities: the extension of pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities, which are expired as of September 30 and will only be renewed if Congress provides funding for the extension in the next appropriations bill. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided some guidance for providers during this time, but it has not indicated whether claims for telehealth services delivered outside rural areas and other settings will be covered retroactively after the government reopens. HPNA’s advocacy team continues to monitor the funding lapse and telehealth extension. Please join the Advocacy Network for frequent updates and advocacy engagement opportunities, or reach out to the advocacy team with any questions.