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Wisconsin Governor Seeks Coverage Parity for Telehealth Services
In a COVID-19 relief package unveiled last week, Tony Evers included a bill that would require payers to cover services delivered via telehealth that they would otherwise cover in person through the end of 2021.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is asking the state Legislature to mandate coverage parity for telehealth services through the end of 2021.
The bill was included in a COVID-19 relief package unveiled by Evers last week in a news conference. It’s one of dozens of proposals covering everything from management of testing facilities and overflow facilities to evictions, unemployment payments, student testing requirements and a public information campaign to hire contact tracers.
The bill “prohibits a health insurance policy or a self-insured health plan of the state or a county, city, village, town, or school district from denying coverage for a treatment or service provided through telehealth if that treatment or service is covered under the policy or plan when provided in person by a health care provider.”
With passage, Wisconsin would join dozens of states and the federal government in taking emergency action to expand telehealth coverage and access during the ongoing pandemic.
But passage isn’t guaranteed any time soon. Evers, a Democrat, is feuding with the Republican-controlled Legislature on the size and reach of the relief package. And the Legislature, which hasn’t met in six months, isn’t inclined to agree with Evers without some serious negotiations.
"My perspective is what we’ve done so far is not nearly enough,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters in a press conference arranged hours after Evers’ event, “and I would like to have new ideas thrown out there."
Evers’ spokesman, Britt Cudaback, countered soon afterwards.
Evers "has consistently tried working in good faith with Republican leadership on our state’s response to COVID-19, as we did yesterday by sharing our legislation and asking for their input and feedback,” he said on Twitter. “It’s shameful that Republicans are watching our state face an unprecedented crisis and would rather continue playing politics than work with the governor to do what’s best for the people of our state.”
