New Hampshire lawmakers push to roll back telehealth coverage

According to a report, legislators of New Hampshire, USA held a hearing on a bill that would roll back provisions protecting telehealth coverage in the state. The bill was sponsored by three Republican state legislators and targets payment parity for telehealth services while eliminating coverage for audio-only services. The bill, HB 602, seeks to make changes to the reimbursement limits for telemedicine, removing requirements on Medicaid and private insurers to provide coverage on the same basis as in-person services and revising the law to cap the combined amount of reimbursement to distant sites and originating sites at the total amount allowed for healthcare services in person. Moreover, the bill seeks to explicitly exclude audio-only telephone services from the definition of telemedicine. Telehealth advocates have emphasised the importance of inclusion of audio-only coverage, especially for patients who do not have access to high-quality broadband.