HAP Radiology Billing and Coding Blog

In our early-October article What Radiology Practices Need to Know About the Government Shutdown we expressed concern about several Medicare policies that were unresolved during the federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 (H.R. 5371) that was signed into law on November 12, 2025, addressed those concerns and resolved them in a positive way for radiology practices. The two provisions that expired on September 30 were the telehealth flexibilities and the GPCI 1.0 work floor threshold. The telehealth flexibilities were extended until January 30, and the GPCI work floor was extended until January 31, 2026.

The federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025, will impact payments to radiology practices in several ways, and it is unknown how long the shutdown will last. Medicare payments will be placed on a ten-day hold, as the agency copes with staffing at about 53% of the normal level. According to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contingency staffing plan, HHS will maintain such staff as is necessary to support mandatory funded activities such as Medicare and Medicaid.