Telemedicine bills flood state legislatures

Despite lawsuits, pushback from courts, and regulatory obstacles, telemedicine continues to spread.

According to a February report published by Governing Magazine, 2015 saw over 200 bills regarding telemedicine enter state legislatures, and right now, every state except for Connecticut and Rhode Island offers provider coverage for telemedicine services.

Since 2011, 18 states have introduced telehealth parity laws, which mandate that insurers pay telemedicine providers the same amount they would pay a provider for an in-person visit.

But the growing prevalence of telemedicine has made it difficult for governing bodies to catch up, the report notes, and that is mostly because of the privacy and ethical concerns that implementation of telemedicine carries with it.

Read the full report here.