Colorado Expands Telehealth Coverage, Includes Home Health Care Services

Colorado lawmakers have quickly approved a bill that will permanently expand telehealth coverage and access in the state.

Governor Jared Polis is scheduled today to sign into law SB 212, which was introduced roughly one month ago.

The bill requires the state Medicaid program to reimburse for telehealth services at rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers and the federal Indian Health Service at the same rate as for in-person treatment; expands coverage to include speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, hospice care, home health care, and pediatric behavioral health care; and allows home health care providers to supervise their own telehealth services.

The home health care provision, added after the bill was introduced, is significant. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services severely restricts Medicare coverage for home health care programs using telehealth, including requiring that telehealth services be prescribed by the patient’s primary doctor. Colorado’s bill gives home health care agencies in the state some leeway to manage telehealth services for Medicaid patients.

The bill also loosens the rein on private payer coverage for telehealth. It prohibits payers from requiring an in-person exam before a doctor uses telehealth to treat a new patient and prevents them from imposing limitations on location, certification or training as a condition of reimbursement. It also prevents them from imposing requirement or limitations on the use of HIPAA-compliant technologies to deliver telehealth.

Finally, the bill requires the state to post data on telehealth use within 30 days, and sets aside state money to support connected health expansion.

The bill is part of a flurry of state activities aimed at making permanent telehealth freedoms enacted in emergency measures over the past few months to help providers address the coronavirus pandemic. Congress and the federal government are also under pressure to make permanent changes to telehealth laws and guidelines.