Bill Text: NY A10883 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Expands access to telehealth services through insurers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-24 - referred to insurance [A10883 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10883-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10883

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 24, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Frontus) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance

        AN ACT to amend the insurance law and the public health law, in relation
          to expanding access to telehealth services through insurers

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section  3217-h of the insurance law is amended by adding
     2  two new subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
     3    (c) Insurers shall provide telehealth services without first requiring
     4  patients to make contact  in-person  before  providing  such  telehealth
     5  services.    Plans shall include reimbursement for health care providers
     6  for any diagnosis, consultation or treatment of a patient, client enrol-
     7  lee or subscriber delivered through  telehealth  services  in  the  same
     8  manner  and  to the same extent as the health care service plan would be
     9  responsible for reimbursement for the  same  service  through  in-person
    10  diagnosis, consultation or treatment.
    11    (d)  Reimbursement for telehealth services shall not be required to be
    12  unbundled from other capitated or bundled risk-based payments, provided,
    13  however, telehealth companies shall not receive exclusive contracts.
    14    § 2. Section 4306-g of the insurance law is amended by adding two  new
    15  subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
    16    (c)  Corporations  shall  provide  telehealth  services  without first
    17  requiring patients to make contact in-person before providing such tele-
    18  health services. Contracts shall include reimbursement for  health  care
    19  providers  for  any  diagnosis,  consultation or treatment of a patient,
    20  client enrollee or subscriber delivered through telehealth  services  in
    21  the  same manner and to the same extent as the contract would be respon-
    22  sible for reimbursement for the same service through  in-person  diagno-
    23  sis, consultation or treatment.
    24    (d)  Reimbursement for telehealth services shall not be required to be
    25  unbundled from other capitated or bundled risk-based payments, provided,
    26  however, telehealth companies shall not receive exclusive contracts.
    27    § 3. Section 2805-u of the public health law is amended  by  adding  a
    28  new subdivision 5 to read as follows:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16394-02-0

        A. 10883                            2

     1    5.  Telemedicine  service  providers  shall  be required to obtain and
     2  document a patient or client's consent  before  initiating  telemedicine
     3  services,  provided,  however, such consent does not need to be provided
     4  in-person.
     5    §  4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to insur-
     6  ance contracts beginning or renewed on or after January 1, 2021.
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