[TAO] Oregon Senate Bill 1560

[Catherine Britain]

Greetings,

A legislative concept was introduced in the State Senate Committee for
Health Care and Human Services by Zoom Care that would amend the statute
created in 2009 by SB 24, better known as the telemedicine reimbursement
bill.  Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson Chair of the Committee requested that
Zoom Care work with TAO to assure that the concept they were presenting did
not run contrary to the current reimbursement environment in Oregon, and
would enhance telemedicine reimbursement for telemedicine providers in the
future.

TAO worked very closely with Zoom Care to craft language that would enhance
and expand the current statute. SB 1560 was introduced in a Committee
hearing on February 10, 2014.  The bill was presented along with the -1 and
-4 amendments.  The amendments served to strengthen the language in the
original bill regarding the use of the GT modifier and the determination of
when the use of telemedicine was appropriate. Basically the bill with the
-1 and -4 amendments said that the reimbursement of telemedicine services
should be expanded to include the services delivered to patients outside
institutional walls including primary/urgent care services to patients in
their homes, schools, and workplaces.

At that time opposition was raised by the Oregon Association of Hospitals
and Health Systems (OAHHS) and the larger Oregon insurers.  OAHHS believed
that their hospital members would lose Emergency Room revenue if the bill
were to pass. The insurers believed that the bill mandated parity, and felt
that a workgroup was needed to clarify the language.  On February
11thwhile the Committee was in work session on the bill Senator Monnes
Anderson
decided not to have a vote on the bill in the Committee effectively killing
it.  Instead she directed TAO to form a work group made up of members that
she and TAO believed needed to be involved to work through the concerns
with the bill and bring a bill to the Committee for the 2015 session.  The
Committee staff would provide support to the work group.

This does not mean that the current statute is not valid.  Providers can
still request payment for services delivered telemedically.  Insurers will
continue to pay for telemedicine services as mandated under the statute.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.


Copies of SB 1560 and the -1 and -4 amendments are available on the TAO
website or on OLIS at the Oregon.gov website.


If you are interested in participating in the workgroup please submit your
name and contact information to me by March 10th.  The size of the work
group will be limited, but we will attempt to share information and solicit
input from everyone who is interested.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at
csbritain at gmail.com or 541-910-7366.

Best regards,

Cathy Britain





-- 
Catherine S. Britain, Program Director
Telehealth Alliance of Oregon
csbritain at gmail.com
541-910-7366
www.ortelehealth.org
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