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Bipartisan telemedicine bills get on Senate floor calendar

Two bills that could expand telemedicine’s reach in Washington have made it through cutoff and secured a spot on the Senate floor calendar.

SB 5457 would make it so health plans would run at the same rates for telemedicine services as comparable in-person services. It also allows sites that provide telemedicine to have negotiating power when it comes to facility fees.

SB 5436 would allow patients to access telemedicine services at a location of their choosing, including their home. Under current law patients can use telemedicine, but only at approved sites “a hospital, rural health clinic, federally qualified health center, health care provider’s office, community mental health center, skilled nursing facility, or renal dialysis center,” according to the bill report.

Both bills have bipartisan support and are backed by the same legislators: Randi Becker, R-Eatonville; Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver; Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines and Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle

Telehealth and telemedicine are getting more attention and support as providers try to figure out how to better reach patients in rural areas, or who otherwise can’t easily access health services.

The question that some providers are grappling with, is whether remote treatment of patients can be as viable an option as in-person treatment, and for what type of health care. But for rural patients or those with limited mobility, telemedicine looks like a solution to a common problem: getting health care services when and where a patient can.

Becker sponsored both bills and commented on them in her last weekly email, sent out Feb. 15.

“Telemedicine is a great way to expand care to rural communities and I hope to report later that the legislation passes both the Senate and the House,” she said in the email.

Erin Fenner: erin@washingtonstatewire.com, @erinfenner


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