[TAO] Oregon Senate Bill 1560

[Vanessa]

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 19, 2014, at 4:35 PM, Catherine Britain <csbritain at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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 11th while 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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