ST. GEORGE, Utah — A state lawmaker is proposing to increase the amount of coverage insurance companies should give for telemedicine visits in an effort to keep it going.
Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, passed a bill in 2020 expanding telemedicine in Utah just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everything shut down.
"It was a game changer during COVID," she said in an interview with FOX 13 News at the Utah State Legislature's interim session in St. George last month. "To provide the access to doctors as we all know."
But since her bill, Rep. Ballard said she has learned of some insurers who are no longer providing as much coverage for a telehealth visit. She found out firsthand when she tried to visit her own health care provider.
"I was in a doctor’s office and I said, 'Now why did we have to come in person instead of over televisit?'" she recalled. "Because the insurer will only pay 60% if it's not in person. And the cost to doctors is still almost identical."
So now Rep. Ballard is drafting a bill to force insurers to provide more coverage for virtual visits, instead of scaling back.
"There are some states that require 100% of the visits to be paid equally and some require 90%. We need to have some of those insurance companies who are doing 60% or 70%, it’s time for them to step up and stop telling the doctor when we should be in person. The doctor should make that decision," she said.
Rep. Ballard said she is having some conversations with insurance providers, but many are reluctant to go back to pandemic levels of coverage for telehealth visits. She is now urging people who are worried about being impacted to contact their insurers to demand the coverage.
"I've asked and reached out to all of the major companies here in Utah and they haven’t been giving me any other reason than they don’t think it’s necessary. The patients are the ones saying it's absolutely necessary," she said.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, Select Health, a major Utah insurance provider, said: "Select Health is aware of this issue and continues to review. We do not have a comment at this time."
Rep. Ballard said she plans to introduce a bill in the 2024 legislative session that begins in January. She said since Utah expanded telehealth visits, she's heard from constituents who love the convenience.
"We love, as the patient, to be able to choose. Do I want to leave work? Or could I just do this, step away from what I'm doing at work, and meet with my doctor and go back to work?" she said.
