The Coalition to Protect Telehealth wants Illinois residents to have easier access to telehealth options. | Adobe Stock
The Coalition to Protect Telehealth wants Illinois residents to have easier access to telehealth options. | Adobe Stock
The Coalition to Protect Telehealth wants lawmakers in Springfield to adopt a bipartisan leadership aimed at reducing barriers to virtual health care.
The coalition is composed of 30 leading health-care and patient advocacy groups across Illinois. Members insisted while COVID-19 has clearly highlighted the need for virtual health care, there have always been barriers to in-person visits.
"Such as lack of transportation, geographic distance from a provider, especially in rural areas of Illinois, not wanting to take a day off from work and losing your wages," Danny Chun, the spokesperson for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, said, the Public News Service reported on the local Patch.com website.
Chun and others are hoping pending legislation will prove to be at least part of the answer. The bill would ensure insurance companies treat telehealth the same as in-person care for payment and coverage, including banning geographic restrictions on telehealth services.
"Without this legislation, after the public health emergency ends and the state and federal government waivers expire, then we go to what the situation was pre-pandemic in Illinois," Chun said.
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