South Carolina senate committee endorses telemedicine reimbursement

The South Carolina Senate is one step closer to requiring state employee insurance plans to reimburse physicians for telemedicine diagnoses and treatments.

The Senate Medical Affairs Committee approved on April 18 a bill, the South Carolina Telemedicine Act (S. 290), which requires such coverage of telemedicine services by the state public employee benefit program, and the establishment of a Telemedicine Advisory Council.

Specifically, the bill stipulates that as of Jan. 1, 2014, the state health plan would not require face-to-face contact between a provider and a patient as a requirement for payment. However, the state health plan would be required to establish guidelines, documentation requirements and benefit design standards for telemedicine services.

The state plan further would determine reimbursement for covered services, which will be based on Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes with the appropriate telemedicine modifiers, according to the bill.

The legislation also would form a multidisciplinary council to examine telemedicine outcomes, evaluate reimbursement rates and make recommendations on its future use.

The bill has been referred to the state senate.