2017 Minnesota Statutes

62A.672 COVERAGE OF TELEMEDICINE SERVICES.

Subdivision 1.Coverage of telemedicine.

(a) A health plan sold, issued, or renewed by a health carrier for which coverage of benefits begins on or after January 1, 2017, shall include coverage for telemedicine benefits in the same manner as any other benefits covered under the policy, plan, or contract, and shall comply with the regulations of this section.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to:

(1) require a health carrier to provide coverage for services that are not medically necessary;

(2) prohibit a health carrier from establishing criteria that a health care provider must meet to demonstrate the safety or efficacy of delivering a particular service via telemedicine for which the health carrier does not already reimburse other health care providers for delivering via telemedicine, so long as the criteria are not unduly burdensome or unreasonable for the particular service; or

(3) prevent a health carrier from requiring a health care provider to agree to certain documentation or billing practices designed to protect the health carrier or patients from fraudulent claims so long as the practices are not unduly burdensome or unreasonable for the particular service.

Subd. 2.Parity between telemedicine and in-person services.

A health carrier shall not exclude a service for coverage solely because the service is provided via telemedicine and is not provided through in-person consultation or contact between a licensed health care provider and a patient.

Subd. 3.Reimbursement for telemedicine services.

(a) A health carrier shall reimburse the distant site licensed health care provider for covered services delivered via telemedicine on the same basis and at the same rate as the health carrier would apply to those services if the services had been delivered in person by the distant site licensed health care provider.

(b) It is not a violation of this subdivision for a health carrier to include a deductible, co-payment, or coinsurance requirement for a health care service provided via telemedicine, provided that the deductible, co-payment, or coinsurance is not in addition to, and does not exceed, the deductible, co-payment, or coinsurance applicable if the same services were provided through in-person contact.

History:

2015 c 71 art 9 s 3