Senate Finance Telehealth Draft Requires CMS Continue To Embrace Interstate Compacts

The Senate Finance Committee deals with the hot-button issue of telehealth across state lines by sidestepping setting up a federal licensing scheme and instead requiring that CMS ensure Medicare and Medicaid coverage of virtual behavioral health services involving providers and patients in different states that have voluntarily joined interstate licensure compacts. The committee’s draft telehealth-mental health bill includes a vague paragraph on interstate licensing, leading to confusion among stakeholders. A Senate staffer clarified for Inside Telehealth the language’s intent...