4 States Advance Telehealth Bills

Alabama, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are considering or have passed bills governing telehealth services.

In Alabama, the state Senate passed a bill that creates laws regulating telehealth delivery. The bill states that a "physician providing telehealth medical services shall owe to the patient the same duty to exercise reasonable care, diligence, and skill as would be applicable if the service or procedure were provided in person."

The bill allows patients to receive care virtually even if they have not met the provider in person. But if a physician provides telehealth services more than four times a year to the same patient for the same medical condition without resolution, they must see the patient in person within "a reasonable amount of time," that is, not longer than a year, the bill states.

Further, physicians can prescribe controlled substances via telehealth, but with certain restrictions. These include the prescriber having had at least one in-person encounter with the patient within the preceding 12 months and the telehealth visit taking place through synchronous audio or audio-visual communication using HIPAA-compliant equipment.

The bill has been passed on to the Alabama House for consideration.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed into law nine pieces of legislation on March 31, including one that concerns virtual care delivery.

The legislation bars professional licensure boards from prohibiting healthcare providers credentialed in Kentucky to deliver telehealth to Kentuckians who are temporarily located outside of the state.

It also bars professional licensure boards from prohibiting the delivery of telehealth services to nonresidents temporarily located in Kentucky by providers credentialed in the person's state of residence.

Further, state agencies governing telehealth delivery shall not require any prior authorization, medical review, or administrative clearance for telehealth that would not be required if a service were provided in person, the law states.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is considering a bill that would remove the state's statutory requirement that 50 percent of psychiatric care time be provided on-site and instead allow the required on-site psychiatric services to be provided through telehealth.

"My legislation would help outpatient psychiatric clinics meet the growing demand for their services and address the shortage of onsite psychiatric time we are facing in the Commonwealth by allowing for more treatment to be administered virtually," said Rep. Tina Pickett, in a news release.

New Hampshire also aims to expand access to virtual counseling for behavioral health issues.

The New Hampshire Senate is considering a bill that would allow the state to join the interstate Counseling Compact. Residents in states that are members of the compact can receive mental healthcare virtually from providers licensed in other states in the compact. Eight states have joined the compact, and 15 states have legislation pending.

The bill has also been introduced in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

As states advance pieces of legislation to regulate and expand telehealth, the healthcare industry is waiting to see if the federal government will pass legislation making permanent telehealth flexibilities enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the moment, the omnibus spending package passed last month extends Medicare telehealth waivers until only five months after the public health emergency is officially declared over.