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Public Policy

One of ATA's driving missions is to educate government about telemedicine to improve public support for telehealth services. As the voice of telemedicine, ATA is recognized throughout the world as the primary authority about telemedicine and actively works with Congress, the administration as well as with other governmental bodies to eliminate barriers to the use of telemedicine.  

Below is a list of policy activities, organized by topic. You may also want to review atawiki.org, ATA's public policy wiki for continually updated information on a variety of telehealth policy issues. 

  

 
Public Policy News

U.S. Capitol Dome
  • ATA: VETS Act Expands Veterans Access to Care, Protects Patient Safety
    May 16, 2013
    The American Telemedicine Association strongly supports the proposed Veterans E-Health and Telemedicine Support Act (H.R. 2001,) lauding it as a key step in improving healthcare quality by minimizing regulatory barriers for interstate telemedicine.

  • Don't Miss the FREE 'This Month in Telemedicine' Videocast, Tuesday, April 23 @ 2pm ET‏
    Apr 19, 2013
    Over the last month, we have seen several major public policy developments related to telemedicine, at both the state and federal level. Several more states have passed telemedicine bills into law and a lot of action is taking place within Congress and the federal agencies. Learn the details and discover how these developments will impact the practice and industry of telemedicine in this free, one-hour update from ATA. Our public policy experts will review the major issues of the month, provide analysis on the news and outline new opportunities and challenges created by the changing policy environment. There will also be time to answer viewers' questions on air.

  • Arizona and Montana Governors Sign Telemedicine Bills into Law
    Apr 10, 2013
    Arizona and Montana are the latest states to sign into law requirements for private insurers to cover healthcare services provided via telemedicine comparable to that of in-person services.

  • New Mexico Governor Signs Telemedicine Law
    Apr 02, 2013
    New Mexico has become the seventeenth state to enact a law requiring private health insurance plans to provide coverage for telemedicine services to the same extent that the services would be covered if they were provided in-person.

  • Mississippi Governor Signs Telemedicine Bill Into Law
    Apr 02, 2013
    Mississippi has become the sixteenth state to enact a law requiring health insurance plans to provide coverage for telemedicine services to the same extent that the services would be covered if they were provided in-person.

 
ATA Federal Policy Priorities

 
Medicare & Medicaid

 
State Telehealth Policies


  • ATA State Policy Toolkit
    May 2013
    This toolkit offers a list of suggested policy changes, model legislative language, talking points, and a guide for promoting discussion and potential action for telehealth policy changes.

  • ATA Comments to Alabama Board of Medical Examiners
    March 8, 2013
    ATA's comments regarding the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners proposed new rules for telehealth focused on 3 areas for revision: comparable to regulation of in-person care, recognition of emergency circumstances and accommodation of remotely-provided interpretative services.

  • ATA Comments on Maryland's HB 931 and 934
    March 7, 2013
    ATA strongly supports HB 931 regarding Medicaid coverage for covered services provided by telehealth and HB 934 for a Task Force on the Use of Telehealth to Improve Maryland Health Care.

  • State Telemedicine Legislation Matrix
    March 2013
    A state-by-state breakdown of telehealth legislation, including legislative mandates for private coverage, medicaid coverage and other proposed bills at the state level.

  • Model State Legislation for Telemedicine
    December 2012
    ATA, in collaboration with the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, has produced model telehealth legislation to help state lawmakers modernize healthcare with telemedicine.

  • ATA Comments on Georgia Medical Board's "Anti-Telemedicine" Proposal
    October 2012
    The Georgia Composite Medical Board recently proposed Official Code of Georgia Annotated 360-3-.07 to regulate under what circumstances medical practice “by electronic or other such means” (i.e. telemedicine) constitutes “unprofessional conduct.”

  • State Legislation for Telehealth-Provided Covered Services
    July 2011
    A primer for telehealth in coverage in health benefit plans and how state insurance law governing private and state benefit plans can advanced telemedicine.

  • Medical Assistance and Telehealth: An Evolving Partnership
    June 2006
    Information about the varying levels of state Medicaid support, legislative and regulatory methods by which state Medicaid support may be achieved, and case studies from states that have realized Medicaid reimbursement for remote health services.

 
Miscellaneous

 
Medical Licensure

  • FixLicensure.org Petition
    ATA has created a separate website to gather support for a national medical licensure reform. Please sign the petition today to help improve the cross-state delivery of telehealth services. 

  • ATA Holds Congressional Briefing on State Licensure 
    January 2012
    ATA sponsored a briefing for Congress on issues related to the licensure and regulation of physicians in the United States. (Video available shortly.) 
  • ATA Policy on State Medical Licensure and Practice Requirements
    June 2011
    Current approaches to state-based licensing and regulation of health professionals are outdated and seriously harm the public and inhibit progress in the practice of 21st century medicine and patients. ATA encourages the federal government to take a strong leadership role in resolving this issue.

 
Federal Communications Commission

 
Food and Drug Administration