Lacktman Comments on California Telehealth Legislation

Partner Nate Lacktman was quoted in an mHealth Intelligence article, “California Enacts Telehealth Payment Parity, Boosts Asynchronous Care,” about the passage of legislation that puts California at the forefront of the connected health movement.

Lacktman, chair of the firm’s national Telemedicine & Digital Health Industry Team, said the legislation, which requires payment parity, allows health plans some leeway in negotiating rates, but mandates that any services provided via telehealth that are the same as in-person services must be reimbursed at the same rate. He also said the legislation doesn’t require that telehealth reimbursement be unbundled from other risk-based payments and won’t require health plans to cover telehealth services provided by out-of-network providers unless specifically noted. “These changes were intended to fix statutory shortcomings that confused practitioners and ultimately prevented patients from enjoying meaningful insurance coverage of services delivered via telehealth,” he said.