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Texas Lawmakers OK Telehealth Expansion for Medicaid, Public Health Plans
Unanimously approved by both chambers and headed to the governor's desk, the bill permanently extends coverage for a wide range of telehealth platforms, including audio-only services.
Texas is set to approve legislation that would give the state’s Medicaid program and other public health plans more leeway to cover telehealth and allow audio-only telehealth services in some situations.
HB 4, which passed unanimously in the House and Senate and is now before Governor Greg Abbott, makes permanent some of the emergency health measures put in place by Abbott over the past year to address the coronavirus pandemic. Abbott called for a permanent expansion of connected health access and coverage in his 2021 State of the State Address.
Among other things, the bill opens the door for Medicaid and public health plans to use connected health platforms for preventive health and wellness screenings, case management services, physical, occupational and speech therapy, nutritional counseling, assessments and behavioral health services, including those delivered by audio-only telehealth if deemed appropriate.
It also establishes reimbursement through the Medicaid managed care program for “telemonitoring services,” also known as remote patient monitoring. And it allows for the creation of guidelines on how providers can use e-mail or text messages to communicate with patients.
The bill also allows the use of “telecommunications or information technology” in outpatient programs for substance abuse treatment, a move that would expand treatment options for people who can’t or won’t access in-person care.
Finally, the bill adds rural health clinics to the list of providers (which includes federally qualified health centers) who can be reimbursed for the originating site facility fee or distant site practitioner fee, or both, for services delivered via telehealth.
The bill is one of dozens across the country – including several in Texas – that aim to expand telehealth access and coverage past the pandemic. A few states have chosen to extend emergency provisions for a while in hopes of seeing Congress set federal telehealth policy, but others are pushing ahead with their own laws, creating pockets of permanence around the country.
