Telehealth insurance bill amended, advanced

Lawmakers gave second-round approval April 3 to a bill that would prohibit insurance providers from excluding coverage for a service based solely on its deliverance through telehealth.

LB92, sponsored by Seward Sen. Mark Kolterman, would require health insurance companies to cover any service provided via telehealth if the service is covered for an in-person consultation. The bill would not apply to policies that provide coverage for a specified disease or other limited-benefit coverage.

Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe offered an amendment, adopted 37-0, which added provisions from his LB282 that would remove a Medicaid coverage restriction for children if a child has access to services within 30 miles of his or her place of residence.

Following the 30-0 adoption of a technical amendment, LB92 was advanced to final reading by voice vote.