On Monday, Virginia became the 12th state to require health insurers to cover telemedicine services the same way they cover face-to-face consultations, the Bristol Herald Courier reports.
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signed the bill (SB 675) into law at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical Center in Richmond.
State Sen. William Wampler (R) and state Delegate Terry Kilgore (R), the bill's sponsors, attended the signing ceremony via teleconference from the Lee Regional Medical Center in Pennington Gap. The teleconference was facilitated by the University of Virginia Telemedicine Network, which links the two medical centers with 55 clinics in rural parts of the state (McLean, Bristol Herald Courier, 4/5).
Law Details
The new law requires insurers to cover medical services provided through interactive audio, video or other media for the purposes of consultation, diagnosis or treatment (Sluss, Roanoke Times, 4/6).
The law also aims to make it easier for health care providers and insurance companies to develop billing arrangements for telemedicine services (Igo, Kingsport Times News, 4/5).
In addition, the measure aims to improve health care access for people in rural areas by encouraging more health care providers to implement telemedicine tools (Bristol Herald Courier, 4/5).