Reimbursement is the key to the growth and expansion of the telemedicine market. In the US today there are 26 states that have either Medicaid reimbursement for telemedicine (by law or legislation) or by Private insurance legislation for telemedicine reimbursement according to the Telemedicine Reimbursement Report prepared by the Center for Telemedicine Law in October 2003 Download telemedreimbursementreport2003.pdf. Their is a chart in the report that gives a general overview for a quick reference Download reimbursement_chart.doc .
Their are 5 states listed in the report that have both Medicaid and Private Insurance Reimbursement.
1. Texas
2. California
3. Kentucky
4. Louisiana
5. Oklahoma
There are also additional States that since the report have legislated both Medicaid and 3rd Party reimbursement.
6. North Carolina
7. Colorado
The Telemedicine Exchange has a good resource for information regarding State Reimbursement and what 3rd Party payers reimburse for Telemedicine . The link as of today is down but I have talked to the Exchange and they thought it would be fixed by the end of the week.
There are a number of factors that have driven reimbursement and will continue to drive Telemedicine Reimbursement in the future.
1. Providing specialty care for undeserved communities where distance and specialty care are issues.
2. The 200 institutional networks that are operational in the US.
3. The need / want of consumers to have more convenient health care.
4. The need to reduce health care costs for all stakeholders.
5. Improving technology and decreasing costs associated with that technology.
In the future States and Governmental coverage of medicine reimbursement will continue to grow. As this transpires the telemedicine market will grow. As the telemedicine market grows consumers will have access to better and more convenient tools / services to receive health care.
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