There is still little consensus from state lawmakers about how best to handle telehealth, according to a pair of new political report cards released Monday at the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference.
The association updated reports on how well state policies are addressing coverage and reimbursement as well as physician practice standards and licensure. The two reports – a combined 191 pages – showcase the inconsistent attitudes of lawmakers in moving beyond in-person medical treatment to technologies such as video consultations and expanded use of healthcare mobile apps.
For example, three states recently passed telemedicine parity laws that pay telemedicince visits at the same rates as in-person treatments. However, shifts in Medicaid policy dealt setbacks in two other states.
It’s hard to tell whether these grades suggest any trends in telehealth policy. Attendees of the ATA’s conference this week in Los Angeles will gripe about the mixed messages they get from policymakers – even in the so-called good states.
However, these reports do come out as the emphasis in telehealth lobbying is shifting. Advocates are less focused on seeking better compensation for telehealth services and instead want stripped-down regulations that will allow for new applications of telemedicine, Jonathan Linkous, ATA’s CEO, said just before the reports were released.
“For a long time we were lobbying for more reimbursement – and certainly we’re still looking for more reimbursement and more legislation to help us out,” Linkous said on Sunday. But, with new methods of managing patients, such as Accountable Care Organizations, and compensation approaches like bundled payments, Linkous said the ATA would like to see legislators peel back regulations that were more applicable in a pre-Obamacare world.
“We’re in a new day,” Linkous said.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Obamacare – or at least states’ reactions to it – weren’t always kind to telemedicine. In its review of coverage and reimbursement, the ATA downgraded Maryland and Mississippi from an “A” to “B” because of changes to telehealth policy in its Medicaid plans.
Alabama, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Texas were the most poorly graded states in the two reports.
[Photo from Flickr user TheRunningStart1]
