Page 4 State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies A Comprehensive Scan of the 50 States and District of Columbia

A Comprehensive Scan of the 50 States

and the District of Columbia:

Findings and Highlights

The Center for Connected Health Policy’s (CCHP) annual updated report of state telehealth laws and
Medicaid reimbursement policies is the third edition of this report. An interactive map version of the report
is available on CCHP’s website, cchpca.org. Due to constant changes in laws, regulations, and policies,
CCHP will continue to update the information in both PDF and map formats throughout the year to keep it
as accurate and timely as possible.

It should be noted that even if a state has enacted telehealth policies in statute and/or regulation, these
policies may not have been incorporated into its Medicaid program. Throughout the report, CCHP has
notated changes in law that have not yet been incorporated into the Medicaid program, as well as laws
and regulations that have been approved, but not yet taken effect.

Methodology
CCHP examined state law, state administrative codes, and Medicaid provider manuals as the report’s
primary resources. Additionally, indications of other potential sources such as releases from a state’s
executive office, Medicaid notices, transmittals or newsletters were also examined for relevant
information. In a few cases, we directly contacted state Medicaid personnel in order to clarify specific
policy issues. Most of the information contained in this report specifically focuses on fee-for-service;
however, information on managed care plans has also been included if available from the utilized
sources. Additionally, newly passed regulations related to specific telehealth standards for various
professions were noted in the “Comment” section of the state’s page if found.

The survey focused on eleven specific telehealth-related policy areas. These areas were chosen based
upon the frequency they have appeared in discussions and questions around telehealth reimbursement
and laws. These areas are:

• Definition of the term telemedicine/telehealth
• Reimbursement for live video
• Reimbursement for store-and-forward
• Reimbursement for remote patient monitoring (RPM)
• Reimbursement for email/phone/fax
• Consent issues
• Location of service provided
• Reimbursement for transmission and/or facility fees
• Online prescribing
• Private payer laws
• Cross-state licensure