State legislators in Montana and Florida have recently proposed or passed measures that aim to reduce the reimbursement disparity between in-person services and those delivered via telemedicine.
In Montana, a new law effective Jan. 1 requires insurers to cover services delivered by telemedicine if that service would have been covered during an in-person visit, at the same rate as the in-person visit.
The bill's author, Sen. Edward Buttrey (R-Great Falls), said the law will increase access to quality care across the state. "We are a unique state because we are so rural," Sen. Buttrey told the Billings Gazette. "People in the rural and remote corners of the state deserve to get quick, safe, adequate care and be reimbursed as if they were face-to-face with the physician."
In Florida, the state House of Representatives will consider a bill this year proposed by Rep. Mia Jones (D-Jacksonville) that would prohibit Medicaid or private payers from requiring an in-person visit as a prerequisite for reimbursement.
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