(Thomas Mitchell) – Nevada already has one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in the nation — 47th to be precise. Add to that the time and expense to bring the two together for in-person visits when the patient is living in a remote rural area.
This is where a bill sponsored by Assemblyman James Oscarson, R-Pahrump, comes into play. Assembly Bill 292 — co-sponsored by state Sens. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, and Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City — would require private insurers and Medicaid to reimburse for medical care provided electronically, such as video conferencing, known as telehealth.
In the past, insurance companies have been reluctant pay for anything other than in-person doctor visits.
“It’s a bill that will really open a lot of areas to be able to access health care in a health process that is sweeping the country,” Oscarson said during a recent interview. “Open up specialists so people don’t have to travel. Open up to Medicaid. Open up to all kinds of different specialty services to be available. We’ve been having meetings on telehealth for the last 18 months in the governor’s office every month and having virtually ever person engaged in those conversations from the medical boards to the nursing boards to the EMS providers to the physicians boards, everybody engaged. We’re fine-tuning it right now.”
To read the entire column, click here.
Mr. Mitchell publishes the 4TH ST8 Blog at www.4thst8.wordpress.com.
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