Telehealth Policy 101

The majority of existing telehealth policy in the United States centers around reimbursement — that is, the specific services that are covered by Medicare on the federal level, and by Medicaid and private insurance companies on the state level. We know: it’s complicated.

Learn the basics

The majority of existing telehealth policy in the United States centers around reimbursement — that is, the specific services that are covered by Medicare on the federal level, and by Medicaid and private insurance companies on the state level. We know: it’s complicated. CCHP is dedicated to providing the clearest picture of telehealth policy across the nation.

An update on where we stand with temporary federal telehealth policies, issues to look out for this year on both the state and federal levels, and what could possibly happen with telehealth in the first full year after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watch all our policy explainers>

How to
approach
telehealth policy

Because so much of policy is based on reimbursement, an easy way to understand how it’s structured is through four questions:

  1. What specific services are eligible for reimbursement?
  2. Who can be reimbursed — for example, physicians, therapists, nurses?
  3. Where can the patient be when receiving services?
  4. How is the service being delivered — as in, which modality?

Different federal and state agencies can answer those questions in different ways, and no two states define or regulate telehealth the same way.


For example, one Medicaid program may only reimburse for live video (How) that delivers telemental or telebehavioral health services (What), while another Medicaid program reimburses all medically necessary telemedicine services (What) to any licensed provider who is enrolled with Medicaid (Who).

We regularly update every state’s current laws and regulations in our Policy Finder.

Look up a state >


It can also be helpful to understand federal Medicare policy as a baseline, as it often has a trickle-down effect to other payers.

Look up current federal policies >

A deeper dive into
telehealth policy

Telehealth policy intersects with or is impacted by a multitude of government programs, regulations, laws, and policies related to health. Let’s take a closer look at the most common and influential.

Medicare
Medicaid & State Policy
Connectivity & Net Neutrality
Artificial Intelligence
Credentialing & Privileging
Cross State Licensing & Compacts
Health Information Technology
Online Prescribing
Informed Consent
FTC & Professional Licensure Boards
Malpractice
HIPAA