René Y. Quashie and Amy F. Lerman—Senior Counsels in the firm’s Washington, DC, office—and the firm’s Telehealth practice were featured in Behavioral Healthcare, in “5 Factors Influencing Telemental Health,” by Tom Valentino. The article discusses the findings of Epstein Becker Green’s report, “50-State Survey of Telemental/Telebehavioral Health (2016),” which provides a detailed analysis of the laws, regulations, and regulatory policies impacting telemental health in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Following is an excerpt:
Parity as it relates to insurance coverage is an ongoing issue for telemental health services in two ways. The federal government has addressed one—the equal treatment of mental health and substance abuse vs. physical medical conditions—with the parity laws. The second issue relates to coverage of in-person services vs. receiving the same treatments via telehealth. To this point, this issue has been addressed at the state level, with 60% of states having telehealth parity statutes, Quashie says. …
Getting payers onboard is “a slow-moving train,” Lerman adds. She says states are looking at their Medicaid programs to structure coverage and reimbursement models.
“In the private sector, you have a patchwork,” she says. “Some payers are being very innovative in how they are covering and reimbursing for these services, while others have some catching up to do.”
People
Member of the Firm
