April 07, 2015
On March 20, 2015, Gov. Hickenlooper signed HB 15-1029 into law. The new law relates to telehealth coverage of health benefit services. According to the new law, insurers cannot require plan participants to have in-person contact with health care providers if services can be provided appropriately through telehealth. ’Telehealth’ is defined as the delivery of health care services through telecommunication systems, including information, electronic and communication technologies to facilitate the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, education or self-management of a person’s health care. Importantly, ’telehealth’ does not include communications via health care services via telephone, facsimile or email systems. The new law is effective for plans and policies issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2017. While the new law applies only to insurers, employers will want to be aware of the law to assist employees that may have questions with respect to coverage of telehealth services.
HB 15-1029 »