Report Provides Telehealth Policy Roadmap for New York State

New York State is considered an early adopter and leader in expanding access to telehealth services. A report prepared by Manatt Health for the New York Health Foundation offers a policy roadmap to enhance and sustain telehealth services across the state.

The report, “Ensuring Long-Term Equitable Access to Telehealth in New York State: Opportunities and Challenges,” pointed to recent telehealth policy shifts that have facilitated the launch or expansion of innovative telehealth programs in New York, including Finger Lakes Community Health’s pediatric teledentistry program, the University of Rochester Medical Center’s pilot program to provide telehealth consultations in non-traditional settings, and New York Health and Hospitals’ Virtual ExpressCare service platform that offers patients rapid, accessible medical and behavioral healthcare. 

The Manatt authors state that although New York has largely maintained Public Health Emergency-era telehealth policies and kept pace with the majority of states, opportunities remain for the state to enshrine and strengthen these policies. The report makes four key recommendations: 

• Permanent Payment Parity: Establishing permanent payment parity for virtual visits across all payers to ensure accessibility and encourage provider investment. The state has expanded parity through April 1, 2026. The extension supports ongoing provision of telehealth services in New York and allows the state to continue to study the impact of telehealth service delivery, “but providers may require further clarity from the state to make additional investments in care models that feature telehealth,” the report says. 

• Implement Payment Parity for Audio-Only Visits Across All Payers, adopting Medicaid-specific requirements governing use of the modality. (This would ensure access to care for low-income populations that may not have access to video capabilities or available providers in their area, the report says.)

• Equitable Reimbursement for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs): Reimbursing FQHCs at full rates for remote visits to support patient access and provider retention. The report notes that among the 27 states that explicitly mention that FQHCs may bill the PPS rate for telehealth services, New York is unique in reducing Article 28 FQHCs’ reimbursement depending on the location of the patient and provider. In practice, a lower reimbursement rate may force FQHCs to discontinue telehealth service delivery or maintain it with significant revenue loss in an already strained system.

• Cross-State Licensure: Implementing a New York State-specific approach to cross-state licensure to address provider shortages and maintain continuity of care. New York could follow the approach of several states that have established a state-specific, special-purpose telehealth registry to enable a broad group of providers to obtain a license to deliver telehealth services to in-state residents.