Bill: HB 2697, 85(R) - 2017

This bill would prohibit the Texas Medical Board from requiring that a physician have a face-to-face consultation between a patient and physician before providing telemedicine services. The bill would require that to provide telemedicine medical services, a practitioner-patient relationship must already be established, and the services must be provided in the manner prescribed by statute. The chapter does not apply to mental health services. The bill also moves the definition of telemedicine medical services and telehealth services to the Occupations Code rather than the Health and Safety Code.The bill would also prohibit health benefit plans from excluding coverage for an already covered service on the sole basis that the service is performed using telemedicine/telehealth services and not performed in person. It would also prohibit a copayment, deductible, or coinsurance for a covered telehealht/telemedicine service to exceed the fee charged for the service in person.