States Adopt AARP-Backed Laws Expanding Telehealth Access

We've been pushing for bills that expand access to telehealth, which exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, in states across the country. We’ve got some recent wins to report, as some of those bills have become laws:

• In Kentucky, we championed a bill that prevents administrative boards and agencies from blocking telehealth services to Kentuckians who are temporarily living outside the state — and from blocking the same services to nonresidents who are temporarily living in Kentucky. The bill expands telehealth options by ensuring that providers licensed in a particular state don’t have to have a physical office or location in that state to treat its residents.

• In Indiana, we backed a measure that adds occupational therapist assistants, school psychologists, certain community mental health center providers and others to the list of professionals who can offer telemedicine.

The bills were signed into law by the respective state governor in recent weeks.

The recent telemedicine surge has benefited those concerned about exposure to COVID-19, rural Americans who aren’t particularly close to a medical provider, and countless others who are hard-pressed to make in-person medical appointments. More than three times as many Medicare beneficiaries have access to telehealth now than did before 2020. And 1 in 3 adults between the ages of 45 and 49 and more than 1 in 5 adults 65 and up had a telehealth appointment in 2020, according to a recent AARP report.

Read more about the future of telemedicine, and learn about the telehealth resources that may be available to you.