COVID-19 Pandemic Reportedly Puts State Medical Licensing Rules Under Scrutiny, With Some Calling For Permanent Changes
- October 27, 2020
Modern Healthcare (10/24, Brady, Subscription Publication) reports that COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to “what some see as a need to reform licensure rules to ease the adoption and proliferation of telehealth.” Modern Healthcare adds that state medical licensing requirements have “been a historical barrier to clinicians practicing across state lines,” but earlier this year, the Trump Administration “suspended rules requiring physicians to be licensed where a patient is located in order to bill Medicare and Medicaid for medical services” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While experts predict that “most states will likely return to their pre-COVID rules as the crisis subsides,” some are calling for permanent changes to be made in response to the growth of telemedicine and in anticipation of a future pandemic.