Neurology on the Hill 2026 - Part 3

Feb 25, 2026

Max Goldman, Director of Congressional Affairs at the AAN, explains federal telehealth policy and advocacy for neurologists and patients. He recounts how COVID-era telehealth flexibilities transformed care. He outlines the Connect for Health Act and its push to protect audio-only visits. He shares optimism about making telehealth protections permanent for rural and broadband-limited communities.

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INSIGHT

Telehealth Flexibilities Were Essential

Telehealth flexibilities from the COVID-19 emergency were crucial to neurological care nationwide.
Max Goldman warns lapses during the 2025 shutdown caused panic for neurologists and patients who relied on telehealth access.

ADVICE

Advocate For Permanent Telehealth Law

Push for permanent legislation to prevent future lapses in telehealth policy.
The AAN will ask Congress to co-sponsor the Connect for Health Act to permanently extend telehealth and protect audio-only visits, especially for low-broadband areas.

INSIGHT

Audio Only Visits Preserve Access

Audio-only visits are a critical component of equitable telehealth.
Goldman emphasizes audio-only protection for patients in areas without reliable internet or broadband access.

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In the final episode of this three-part series, Dr. Stacey Clardy and Max Goldman talk about telehealth.

Stay updated with everything related to Neurology on the Hill.

Show transcript:

Dr. Stacey Clardy:

Hi, this is Stacey Clardy, and today we're wrapping up our three-part series covering the Top Advocacy Issues for Neurology on the Hill 2026 in Washington, DC. This is the event where many neurologists fly in from all over the country to meet with our elected representatives to discuss the issues of the most importance to our patients, and to allow us to continue to take good quality care of our neurology patients.

We have again back with us, Max Goldman. He's the Director of Congressional Affairs from the AAN Legislative Team. Max, we covered Medicare, we covered neuroscience research in the Brain Initiative. The third and final issue is telehealth. What do we need to accomplish on telehealth in Washington, DC this year?

Max Goldman:

The telehealth flexibilities provided with the COVID-19 public health emergency have been so important to providing neurological care to patients across the country. However, what we saw during the government shutdown at the end of 2025 was a lapse in those flexibilities, which caused a huge amount of panic, of uncertainty for both our members, the AAN, who are providing care, and patients who relied on care through telehealth from their neurologist.

That can't happen again. These flexibilities have been extended short-term basis for one year, two year, a couple of months, and what we need now is a permanent extension of these flexibilities so they can't lapse again, and our patients know they can access the care they need. What we're doing at Neurology on the Hill is going to ask our members of Congress to co-sponsor the Connect for Health Act.

This bill would permanently extend telehealth flexibilities, including a full extension of protection of audio-only visits, which is important for folks in areas without great broadband or access to internet. This would just be a really good bill. It's got a lot of momentum this year, and we're hopeful that this will finally make telehealth a permanent part of neurological care going forward.

Dr. Stacey Clardy:

So important. I certainly know out here in Utah where we cover several rural states, this has really been a lifeline to our patients. To learn more about this issue and the other issues being discussed at Neurology on the Hill, you can go to AAN.com and click on advocacy.

Thanks for listening, and thank you Max, for representing us in DC.