Telemedicine Expansion Act Heads to Governor DeWine's Desk

COLUMBUS – House Bill 122, also known as the Telemedicine Expansion Act, heads to Governor DeWine’s desk after unanimously passing the House earlier today. Sponsored by Representatives Mark Frazier (R-Newark) and Adam Holmes (R-Nashport), the bill originally passed the House in April and an amended version cleared the Senate yesterday.

“As I said when we last voted on this bill, at no point in our lifetimes has the need for quick access to quality care been so obvious,” Holmes said “By passing House Bill 122 we can give all Ohioans greater access to physical and mental health treatment, allow our providers to take full advantage of modern technology, and reduce the time and travel burden many Ohioans incur to seek medical assistance. And we can accomplish all of this without raising healthcare costs.”

Key provisions of House Bill 122 include:

• Expanding existing telemedicine services to over a dozen other specialties.
• Prohibiting a health benefit plan from imposing cost sharing for telehealth services that exceed the cost sharing for comparable in-person services.
• Expanding the number of telemedicine services covered by Medicaid.
• Empowering the appropriate executive agencies and licensing boards to establish rules governing telemedicine services.
• Protecting healthcare professionals from liability under claims that the telehealth services they provide do not meet the standard of care that would apply if services were provided in-person. 

Representative Holmes said he looks forward to seeing the legislation signed into law in the coming days.