On Oct. 14, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a telehealth private payer parity bill. The law will require contracts issued, amended or renewed after Jan. 1, 2021, between a healthcare service plan and a healthcare provider to specify that the provider who delivers services appropriately through telehealth be reimbursed on the same basis and to the same extent that the plan would have had the same service been provided in-person.
Under the new law, a health plan cannot require the use of telehealth if the healthcare provider has determined that it is not appropriate, nor does the law limit the ability of the health plan and provider to negotiate the rate of reimbursement for a service.
Authored by Assemblymember Ceclia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), AB 744 was sponsored by the California Medical Association and supported by more than 60 organizations. It was supported by the members of the California Telehealth Policy Coalition.
Other California telehealth bills signed by Gov. Newsom include:
AB 1264 (Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach) – Specifies that an appropriate prior examination does not require a synchronous interaction between the patient and licensee and can be achieved through telehealth, provided the appropriate standard of care is utilized.
AB 1519 (Low, D-Campbell) – Requires that the name, telephone number, practice address and California state license number of any dentist involved in the providing of services, including via telehealth, be made available prior to the rendering of services and when requested by the patient.
AB 1494 (Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters) – During or immediately following a proclamation of a state of emergency, a face-to-face contact or the patient’s physical presence is not required in an enrolled community clinic for services provided to a Medi-Cal beneficiary.
AB 1642 (Wood, D-Santa Rosa) – Medi-Cal managed care plans will be required to provide the Department of Health Care Services with additional information when requesting alternative access standards when meeting network adequacy. Telehealth is specified as one way to offer alternative access.
SB 24 (Leyva, D-Chino) – On or after Jan. 1, 2023, healthcare services clinics on California State University of University of California campuses must offer abortion medication techniques, including via telehealth.
