| Committee/Agency Jurisdiction:
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Commerce
Health and Human Services Policy and Finance
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| Note:
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Preliminary report is due January 15, 2023. Final report is due January 15, 2024.
The reports must cover: (1) the impact of telehealth expansion and payment parity on access to health care services, quality of care, health outcomes, patient satisfaction, and value-based payments and innovation in health care delivery; (2) the impact of telehealth expansion and payment parity on reducing health care disparities and providing equitable access to health care services for underserved communities; (3) whether audio-only communication as a permitted option for delivering services (i) supports equitable access to health care services, including behavioral health services, for the elderly, rural communities, and communities of color, and (ii) eliminates barriers to care for vulnerable and underserved populations without reducing the quality of care, worsening health outcomes, or decreasing satisfaction with care; (4) services and populations, if any, for which increased access to telehealth improves or negatively impacts health outcomes; (5) the extent to which services provided through telehealth: (i) substitute for an in-person visit; (ii) are services that were previously not billed or reimbursed; or (iii) are in addition to or are duplicative of services that the patient has received or will receive as part of an in-person visit; (6) the effect of telehealth expansion and payment parity on public and private sector health care costs, including health insurance premiums; and (7) the impact of telehealth expansion and payment parity, especially in rural areas, on patient access to, and the availability of, in-person care, including specialty care.
In addition, the studies must report: (1) the criteria payers used during the study period to determine which patients were medically appropriate to be served through telehealth, and which categories of service were medically appropriate to be delivered through telehealth, including but not limited to the use of audio-only communication; and (2) the methods payers used to ensure that patients were allowed to choose to receive a service through telehealth or in person during the study period.
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