Arizona has become the 29th state to require health insurers to cover telemedicine services as though they were in-person consultations after legislation was signed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
The state previously had a partial telemedicine parity law that excluded its two largest cities, Phoenix and Tucson, while the new statute makes no geographic distinctions. When the legislation was first introduced in February, experts told The Arizona Republic that physicians around the state hadn’t fully embraced telehealth because the coverage requirement was limited to less populated areas.
“Could you imagine if we could do 25,000 or 30,000 telemedicine visits a year because they didn’t require brick and mortar?” Richard Averitte, MD, CEO and managing partner of Scottsdale-based Affiliated Dermatology, told the Republic. “Over time, eventually you will be able to deliver some high level of medical care for some number of individuals that you see—without having that brick and mortar burden, and society overall will do better.”
Services covered by the new law include consultations on trauma, burns, cardiology, infectious diseases, mental health disorders, neurological diseases, dermatology and pulmonology. Insurers are required to have telemedicine covered in their plans beginning in 2018.
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) supported the legislation.
"Arizona was the only state with a telemedicine parity law which restricted coverage and reimbursement based on geography," ATA spokesperson Latoya Thomas said in a statement to HealthExec. "With the passage of this enhanced law, Arizona are assured access to services, including respiratory, via telemedicine statewide. The state is following a national trend that we hope Medicare will follow."
According to the ATA, similar parity bills have been introduced but not enacted in seven other states during 2015 and 2016. Four in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania haven’t advanced out of a legislative committee, while bills in Illinois and Iowa have passed committee but haven’t been considered by the legislatures. Rhode Island’s current proposal is the closest to becoming law, having passed out of its state House May 11.
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.