Rep. Bill Straus (D-Mattapoisett) announced on Wednesday that the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate have voted to approve and send on to the Governor health care reform legislation providing new flexibility for patient access to Telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill provides numerous coverage and health care access benefits to Massachusetts residents.
Members of the House passed the initial bill H.4888 in July 2020, and after that, the legislation was negotiated by a conference committee with the Senate.
“Telehealth coverage, Medicaid payments to community hospitals, and COVID-19 coverage will become permanently accessible to those needing better access to their physicians and providers. These added options for health care services are critical under the current pandemic restrictions and will remain important to the public,” said Rep. Straus. “We’ve learned this year that these changes are necessary for the health and wellbeing of the citizens of this commonwealth,” he added.
There are three critical parts of the legislation. Of importance is the Mandated Telehealth coverage for all health care services that are covered for in-person physician visits; Enhanced Medicaid payments for independent community hospitals, which directs the state to distribute these Medicaid payments; and out-of-network billing, which assists consumers to avoid surprise medical bills by requiring health care providers and insurance carriers to provide better notice to patients of a health care provider’s network status before non-emergency procedures.
Included in this reform is the allowance to MassHealth members of access to urgent care facilities without first obtaining a referral from a primary care provider before accessing services. Insurance carriers will be required, including MassHealth, to cover all COVID-19 related emergency, inpatient, and cognitive rehabilitation services without any out-of-pocket costs to patients. In addition, COVID-19 coverage for medically necessary outpatient services is covered under this bill.
The bill now heads to Governor Baker for signature.