AB 259

The bill prohibits a private insurer or a self-insured health plan of the state or

a county, city, village, town, or school district from denying coverage or refusing to

reimburse a health care provider for a treatment or service provided through

telehealth, which includes audio-only telephone, if that treatment or service is

covered under the policy or plan when provided in person by a health care provider.

Telehealth is a practice of health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment,

or transfer of medically relevant data by means of audio, video, or data

communications that are used during either a patient visit or a consultation or are

used to transfer medically relevant data about a patient.

2019 Wisconsin Act 56

requires the coverage of and reimbursement for certain

telehealth services under the Medical Assistance program. Act 56 excluded from the

definition of telehealth audio-only telephone communications unless the

Department of Health Services specified by rule that those communications are

considered telehealth reimbursable by the Medical Assistance program. The bill

specifies that DHS must consider mental health therapy conducted over audio-only

telephone communications as interactive telehealth that is eligible for coverage and

reimbursement under the Medical Assistance program.