Telehealth protections are fading as pandemic era waivers, which allowed providers to treat patients across state lines, are expiring. Many lobbyists are worried about the future of the industry and believe that the current proposals don't do enough to help secure its future, Politico reported April 20.
More than 30 states have signed onto the American Medical Association favored Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which creates a common application for providers, allowing them to more easily apply for licenses to practice in other states.
However, some lobbying groups don't think the compact is enough.
"[The compact] streamlines the application process, but it doesn't do a lot to reduce the burdens and costs of maintaining a multistate licensure footprint. That is a source of a lot of frustration for physicians in telemedicine," Nate Lacktman, partner at Foley & Lardner's law firm told Politico.
The American Telehealth Association believes states should recognize each other's licenses, but acknowledges that due to the federal nature of the country, more compacts will have to be created to get around the problem. Another advocacy group, the Alliance for Connected Care, has proposed a voluntary national system that would recognize licenses from other states. However, the ATA thinks the federal government could tie federal funding to the proposal to encourage states to sign on.