A group of Wisconsin lawmakers recently introduced legislation that aims to expand telehealth healthcare services for Medicaid patients, Wisconsin Politics reports.
Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, Sen. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, Rep. Deb Kolste, D-Janesville, and Sen. Janet Bewley, D-Mason, drafted the bill, which has four main goals to improve Medicaid telehealth coverage:
1. Require Medicaid to treat telehealth the same as in-person services for patient coverage and provider reimbursement.
2. Increase Medicaid coverage for telehealth services to be on the same level as Medicare, which covers more than 50 separate telehealth services.
3. Allow Medicaid patients to receive telehealth services in their homes and other non-clinical settings.
4. Revoke the telehealth certification layer that has barred expansion of access to behavioral health and substance use services for Medicaid patients.
The bill is currently being circulated for co-sponsorship and is scheduled to be formally introduced at the end of August.