In the 2014 Oregon legislature, SB 1560 was introduced in the State Senate Health and Human Services Committee by ZoomCare with support from the Telehealth Alliance of Oregon (TAO) www.ortelehealth.org.
ZoomCare and TAO pushed the bill to require private insurance companies to pay for telemedicine. The bill expands reimbursement for telemedicine service from those delivered to patients in healthcare institutions such as hospitals and clinics to include services delivered to patients in their homes, schools, and workplaces.
In spite of the fact that this was a committee bill, it did not make it out of the committees due to concerns expressed by the insurers and the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. TAO believes the bill represents good telemedicine policy as it provides reimbursement for telemedicine services of all types regardless of site of origin if the service is deemed appropriate and delivered according to the standard of care.
Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Monnes Anderson recently directed TAO to form a workgroup to address the concerns and write a bill to present to the 2015 legislative session. The work group is to being created and scheduled to begin to work on the legislation April 2014.
According to Catherine Britain Program Manager for TAO in a letter to Chair Anderson, “The creation of a workgroup without a mandate for an outcome is not useful. Delaying the passage of the bill may only seem like an eight month delay, but it will really mean a two year delay before most programs can become operational”.
Oregon’s health system is in the midst of significant changes as it implements both state and federal reforms. So in another development, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) presented an initial dashboard to the Oregon Health Policy Board for review and feedback.
OHA’s intent is to provide a clear view of the state’s health system from available data sources. These sources include commercial insurance carriers, Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare providers, and information obtained from surveys.
The dashboard would enable trends to be tracked over time and new data sources to be added as they become available. By mapping the shifting terrain of Oregon’s healthcare landscape, OHA seeks to provide data to help direct policymakers, healthcare providers, insurers, purchasers, and individuals. The dashboard has information on healthcare costs and use, health insurance coverage, access to care, plus quality of care.