Arkansas Adopts Telemedicine Payment Parity Bill

On April 2, 2015, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed legislation to enact a telemedicine reimbursement parity law for commercial health plans and Medicaid. The law requires health plans to pay Arkansas-licensed physicians the same service reimbursement rate for virtual visits as for in-person office visits. Specifically, the law states that the combined amount of reimbursement to the distant site physician and to the originating site health care professional or licensed entity where the patient receives the telemedicine services shall not be less than the total amount allowed for health care services delivered via an in-person office visit . . .