Telehealth State Laws and Reimbursement

We get asked an awful lot whether or not a state will reimburse for an online appointment and we’ve been referring people to the Center for Connected Health Policy website or the American Telemedicine Association for a couple of years now.  CCHP and ATA both keep up with the laws and reimbursement changes that are in a constant state of evolution.  Both offer great websites to check out when and if you have any questions.

All you need to do is click the links below here.  For ATA, you’ll be directed to a page with a map that looks like the image above. For CCHP, you’ll land on a clickable map.  Just click the state you are interested in and you will see a listing of laws and reimbursement policies.  You can read through them and determine if your services are covered in that state.

In addition, we always recommend that you check with your local state board for your particular license type.  For instance, LPC’s and Psychologists could have different board rules in one state.  If it seems complicated, it’s because it is right now.  Telemedicine as a whole may not be entirely new to the industry but telemediciine is being adopted at a pace like none other. With some type of technology in everyone’s home, more and more people are exploring the use of seeing their provider from home.  As we see this rapid adoption, the laws and changes to rules are lagging somewhat behind and playing catch up.  To this extent, we recommend you check in frequently if the laws in your state aren’t up to par yet because, inevitably, it will be changed sooner than later. 

ATA:  http://www.americantelemed.org/policy/state-policy-resource-center

CCHP: http://cchpca.org/state-laws-and-reimbursement-policies