The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued a second temporary rule to extend COVID-19 telemedicine flexibilities for prescription of controlled medications until December 31, 2024, to avoid lapses in patient care.

Background: In March, in anticipation of the May 2023 end of the Public Health Emergency, DEA and HHS issued a proposed rule on prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. If the rule had been finalized as proposed, practitioners would no longer have been able to prescribe Schedule II or Schedule III-V narcotic medications via telehealth without a prior in-person exam.

At the end of March, LeadingAge submitted comments on the proposed rule, specifically pushing to have hospice, palliative, and nursing home residents excluded from this rule. On May 10, the DEA and HHS issued a first temporary rule to extend certain exceptions granted to existing DEA regulations.

This second temporary rule, issued on October 6, extends these exceptions through the end of 2024, and this second extension brings the DEA rule in line with the expiration date of other legislated pandemic-era telehealth extensions, including the hospice face-to-face telehealth waiver.