President Biden signed into law the American Relief Act, 2025 (H.R. 10545), providing funds to extend fiscal year 2025 appropriations to federal agencies including the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through March 14, 2025, the White House said on Saturday, December 21, 2024. Other provisions in the bill impacting aging services include an extension of key health policies through March 31, 2025, such as Medicare counseling and assistance programs, the Acute Hospital at Home waiver, and important Medicare telehealth flexibilities, including the use of telehealth to conduct hospice face-to-face recertifications.
The first session of the 119th Congress begins January 3, 2025, followed by President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025.
More information on how the year-end funding package took shape can be found on our Updates: Year-End Funding and Policy Negotiations; Agency Contingency Plans serial post.
