Big news! Testosterone telehealth prescribing rules extended

As you know, we’ve all been gearing up for the end of the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency this Thursday, May 11th, and the coming changes to requirements around prescribing testosterone via telemedicine.

We are now delighted to share some good news with you: the DEA has extended telemedicine prescribing flexibilities! You do NOT need to get an in-person referral form at this time. Read on for the details.

For another 6 months, until November 11th, 2023, absolutely nothing is changing to testosterone prescribing requirements. And, if you and your clinician have established a telemedicine relationship on or before November 11th, 2023, the same telemedicine flexibilities that currently exist and allow remote care without an in-person visit will continue until November 11th, 2024. That means you! Because you have already established care with FOLX, you will have until at least November 11th, 2024 to meet any new requirements for telehealth care for gender-affirming testosterone.

The DEA has decided to do this because of all our efforts - the work we’ve done to lobby alongside the American Telemedicine Association and our other partners, the comments you all shared on the proposed rules, and the efforts of countless advocacy organizations across the company dedicated to ensuring people can continue to access care via telehealth, which has been well proven to be safe and effective.

This is great news for many reasons: it gives members more time to establish relationships with their health providers, who can help them manage their health during this time of ever-changing legislation; it gives us more time to advocate for legislation that will make sure all trans and nonbinary folks will have access to gender-affirming care; and most importantly, it allows people like YOU—our members—to continue receiving the care they need from clinicians who know them best.

The temporary rule will take effect on May 11th, 2023. The full set of telemedicine flexibilities regarding the prescription of controlled medications, including testosterone, as were in place during the COVID-19 PHE, will remain in place through November 11th, 2023.

You can read more about the DEA’s extension of the PHE here.

Please reach out to our member support team if you have any additional questions.