HF 2192 will be discussed in the Senate Human Resources committee at 10:15 am on Thursday, 6-4

Here are a few talking points.  See previous newsletters on telehealth for specific targets and contact information 

1. Telehealth increases access for clients

• Clients like telehealth and it will be difficult to coax some of them back to in-office visits
• Clients are at least as likely, if not more likely, to keep their telehealth appointments
• Barriers to access such as transportation, are decreased with telehealth
• Some clients actually do BETTER using telehealth
• Telehealth can increase the geographical reach of service providers , which is particularly helpful to clients who need specialty practitioners

But providers have to be reimbursed at a fair rate if they are to continue to provide telehealth services

2. It costs just as much (if not more) to provide mental health via telehealth.Those costs are not likely to go down

• Providers will have to be sure to use HIPAA compliant platforms (which they are not all doing due to the relaxation of HIPAA at the federal level during this time). They are not opposed to doing this, they just know they will have to do it. This not a one-time cost.
• They have had to add internet capacity at their offices so providers can offer telehealth in a glitch-free way – this is also an ongoing cost.