Trending in Telehealth highlights state legislative and regulatory developments that impact the healthcare providers, telehealth and digital health companies, pharmacists and technology companies that deliver and facilitate the delivery of virtual care.

Trending in the past week:

• Insurance and Medicaid reimbursement
• Speech-language pathology and audiology
• School-based health services

A CLOSER LOOK

Finalized Legislation & Rulemaking:

• Florida finalized a rule updating the disciplinary guidelines for the Florida Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology to describe potential disciplinary actions for certain violations by out-of-state telehealth registrants.
• In Pennsylvania, Senate Bill 74, which was enacted on April 18, 2024, became effective as of July 15, 2024. The bill requires Medicaid coverage for maternity services and health insurance coverage for telehealth and in-home program services for pregnant and postpartum women.

Legislation & Rulemaking Activity in Proposal Phase:

Highlights:

• Oregon issued a proposed rule that would update school-based health services to add services and health plans approved by Oregon’s Medicaid State Plan Amendment, including telehealth.

Why it matters:

• States are increasing access to and coverage for telemedicine services. Pennsylvania expanded access to and coverage of telehealth services for pregnant and postpartum women seeking maternity services. Additionally, Oregon is considering a rule to expand telehealth coverage for school-based health services.
• Legislation is slowing down for the summer. As typical during the mid to late summer, legislative activity has slowed down across the board, including as related to telehealth.

Telehealth is an important development in care delivery, but the regulatory patchwork is complicated. The McDermott Digital Health team works alongside the industry’s leading providers, payors and technology innovators to help them enter new markets, break down barriers to delivering accessible care and mitigate enforcement risk through proactive compliance.