Amy Lerman Featured in "Report: U.S. States Making Telehealth Progress, Though Key Barriers Still Remain"

When it comes to support for telehealth, several states are continuing to make real progress, although numerous core barriers still stand in the way, according to a new report from national law firm Epstein Becker Green.

The comprehensive review found that federal and state lawmakers increasingly support coverage for mental health services provided via telemedicine, for instance. The survey of state telehealth laws, regulations, and policies within mental health, now in its fourth year, highlights the following milestones achieved in 2019:

• All 50 states and the District of Columbia now provide some level of coverage for telehealth services for their Medicaid members
• Earlier this year, Massachusetts approved coverage of telehealth services for its 1.9 million Medicaid members seeking access to psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, clinical social workers, behavioral health nurses, nurse practitioners, and professional counselors
• Kentucky adopted legislation that went into effect July 1, which allows telehealth visits to take place in a patient’s home, and home-based telemental health also has bipartisan support in Congress in the Mental Health Telemedicine Expansion Act (H.R. 1301), which was reintroduced earlier this year
• Arizona expanded its telehealth law to include coverage of treatment services for substance-abuse disorders …

“We are excited to see telehealth services more widely accepted at the state and federal level,” said Amy F. Lerman, a member of Epstein Becker Green in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice. “Telehealth is a viable and efficient method of care for patients who require quality treatment that may not be close by. It also gives providers an opportunity to share their services and expertise with underserved segments and geographies they couldn’t serve otherwise.”