Trending in Telehealth: June 2025

Trending in Telehealth highlights monthly state legislative and regulatory developments that impact the healthcare providers, telehealth and digital health companies, pharmacists and technology companies that deliver and facilitate the delivery of virtual care. 

Trending in June: 

• Out-of-state licensure  

• Expansion of services 

• Prescription standard changes 

A CLOSER LOOK 

Proposed Legislation & Rulemaking:  

• California was active in the telehealth space in June. 

• • California lawmakers proposed three bills related to use of telehealth in connection with the Medi-Cal program. The California Senate proposed SB 530 to extend Medi-Cal’s existing time and distance standards to ensure timely access to various healthcare services, including telehealth. California also proposed the Telehealth for All Act of 2025, AB 688, to enhance use of telehealth services within the Medi-Cal program by requiring regular analyses and reporting on telehealth utilization and access every two years. California proposed AB 260 to establish protections around abortion access by allowing telehealth providers who offer reproductive health services to enroll as Medi-Cal providers. 

• • California proposed SB 508 to allow out-of-state physicians to provide telehealth services to certain “eligible patients” in California. Previously, eligible patients were limited to those that had an immediately life-threatening disease or condition, or who had been diagnosed with any stage of cancer. If passed, SB 508 would revise the definition of eligible patient to include patients whose immediately life-threatening disease or condition is in remission if the patient is continuing care with the out-of-state physician. 

• • The California Assembly passed AB 1503, which proposes changes to the pharmacy regulations. These changes would amend previous language requiring a provider to perform a “good faith prior examination” before issuing a dangerous drug or device to an “appropriate prior examination,” and would require a pharmacy or outsourcing facility to notify the California State Board of Pharmacy that it receives prescriptions from a telehealth platform, unless an exception applies.  

• Colorado published notice of proposed rulemaking to include remote patient monitoring as a reimbursable service separate from the per visit encounter rate for Rural Health Clincs. This is in response to Senate Bill 24-168, which passed in 2024 and instructed the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to conduct stakeholder meetings on options for remote monitoring with rural providers. Written comments will be accepted through August 6, 2025.  

• Delaware proposed SB 101, which would reconcile a conflict between the in-person examination requirement for prescribing controlled substances under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and Delaware’s telehealth regulations, which do not require such an examination. This bill would also allow practitioners to treat opioid use disorder via telemedicine with US Food and Drug Administration-approved Schedule III – V medications. This bill has passed both chambers and awaits the governor’s signature. 

• In Illinois, SB 2153 has passed both chambers and would amend the Illinois Physical Therapy Act. The bill would authorize initial physical therapy evaluations without a referral or an established diagnosis to be performed by a licensed physical therapist via telehealth when the physical therapist determines that an in-person examination is not required. 

• Maryland proposed a rule to clarify the meanings of synchronous and asynchronous practices for midwives engaging in on-site supervision. “On-site supervision” in the context of synchronous telehealth is proposed to mean being “able to be immediately available via secure telecommunications technology to the telehealth visit during the assistant’s performance of a delegated act,” and for asynchronous telehealth, being “able to review the assistant’s work and interact with the assistant before communication with the client.” The comment period ended on July 14, 2025.  

• New York proposed S 607, which would permit dieticians and nutritionists to practice via telehealth. The bill passed the New York State Senate and is currently in the Assembly. 

• New Jersey passed S 4263 through both houses. If signed by the governor, the bill would allow psychiatrists to provide the requisite examinations via telehealth for involuntary commitment. 

• In New Hampshire, HB 701 awaits the governor’s signature. This bill specifies that a healthcare provider may conduct a telehealth prescreening with any patient, in any state or jurisdiction, who has been diagnosed by a physician with a life-threatening disease.  

• Oregon passed SB 822 in both chambers. The bill would permit health benefit plans and dental-only plans to use telemedicine providers to meet network adequacy requirements. 

• West Virginia proposed a rule to update the definition of telehealth services as applied to licensure requirements for athletic trainers, pharmacists, and physical therapists to comply with the state’s updated code definition. 

• Washington’s Department of Health announced its intention to amend regulations related to prescription hearing aids and hearing test requirements. The rule would modify requirements for the initial fitting of prescription hearing aids to allow telepractice. 

Finalized Legislation & Rulemaking:  

• Colorado enacted the Diabetes Prevention & Obesity Treatment Act in SB 48, adding telehealth as a means of delivery for intensive behavioral or lifestyle therapy and medical nutrition therapy within private payer reimbursement requirements.  

• Colorado also finalized a rule clarifying that physician services for Medicaid benefits may be provided via telehealth if conducted in accordance with existing telemedicine standards. 

• Washington, DC, Law 26-7 exempts virtual provider networks and virtual telehealth platforms from the certificate of need process effective June 10, 2025. Virtual provider networks and virtual telehealth platforms are not permitted to have a physical facility, office, or other similar location in any jurisdiction where a person may go to seek care in person.  

• Louisiana passed three laws this month: 

• • Louisiana enacted HB 137, which allows psychologists to evaluate patients via telehealth for the purpose of issuing emergency certificates. Such evaluations can take place when a person is suspected of having a mental illness or substance-related disorder and requires immediate care. Previously, only psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners were permitted to perform such evaluations via telehealth. 
  • Louisiana also enacted HB 442, which amends definitions and qualifications related to the practice of audiology and speech-language pathology. The legislation adds new terms, such as definitions for “telehealth” and “telepractice,” that clearly permit a Louisiana state audiologist or speech-language pathologist licensee to practice via telehealth.  
  • Louisiana amended qualifications for participating in remote patient monitoring services through SB 70. The legislation requires a recommendation from a healthcare provider for remote patient monitoring and one of the following: diagnosis of a chronic disease, pregnancy, recent history of chronic conditions, or an infant being discharged needing neonatal intensive care. 

• Minnesota enacted HF 2, which specifies that an audio-only telehealth appointment can be reimbursed if it is the standard of care for a scheduled appointment, or if it is a substance use disorder treatment or mental health care service telehealth appointment and the communication was initiated by the enrollee in an emergency. The law takes effect on January 1, 2026. 

• Mississippi enacted SB 2415 to ensure that health insurance and employee benefit plans continue to cover telemedicine services just as they would in-person consultations. The law states that all telemedicine must be real-time audio-visual unless it uses store-and-forward technology or remote patient monitoring.  

• New Hampshire enacted SB 252, which modifies the requirements for the use of telemedicine to prescribe non-opioids and opioids classified in schedules II through IV. 

• Oregon enacted HB 3727 which allows Oregon-licensed physicians and physician assistants to use telemedicine to treat patients temporarily outside the state if the situation is urgent or emergent, or to ensure continuity of care. The healthcare provider must have had an existing patient-provider relationship before the patient left the state.  

• Tennessee adopted a rule through emergency procedures specifying that graduate physicians may not see patients through telemedicine. 

• Texas enacted HB 18, which establishes a consortium that is required to create a program to expand telehealth for access to behavioral health services by September 1, 2026.  

Compact Activity: 

• Several states have advanced licensure compacts. These compacts enable certain healthcare professionals to practice across state lines, whether in person or via telemedicine. The following states introduced bills to enact these compacts:  

• • Wisconsin passed AB 45 in both chambers to join the Dietitian Compact. 
  • The Pennsylvania House passed HB 668 to join the Counseling Compact. 
  • The Delaware Senate passed SB 109 to join the Social Work Licensure Compact. 
  • In Louisiana, the governor vetoed HB 399, which would have entered the state into the Dietitian Licensure Compact. The bill passed through both chambers by a two-thirds majority. The governor vetoed the bill over concerns about privacy and losing state authority to manage licensing to the unelected compacts. 

• Several states issued laws enacting compacts: 

• • The Rhode Island House passed HB 5622 to implement the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. 
  • Nevada joined the Counseling Compact in AB 163 and the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact in AB 230.
  • North Carolina, through H 231, and Oregon, through HB 2554, joined the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact. 
  • Rhode Island joined the Dietitian Licensure Compact through SB 345/HB 5067.  

Why it matters:  

• States continue to adopt compacts and revise laws to accommodate out-of-state providers. Eight states passes or advanced laws related to compacts in June 2025. We also saw many states pass or introduce laws and regulations that more clearly address requirements for out-of-state providers. For example, in New Hampshire and California, bills were introduced allowing out-of-state providers to conduct certain health services in crisis or emergency situations. This trend, along with the high compact activity, demonstrates that states are still looking to utilize out-of-state providers to meet the needs of their state residents.  

• Providers eligible to provide services via telehealth are expanding. States are expanding the use of telehealth via definitional changes, such as New York’s addition of telehealth to the nutritionist and dietitian code and Louisiana’s expansion of telehealth use to psychologists in certain situations, or via modifications to reimbursement standards as in Mississippi. After rapid expansions following the pandemic, states are now focusing on more specialized services, on ensuring that statutes and regulations are consistent, and on setting up insurance regulations to ensure consistency for telehealth. An expanded range of services not only allows a broader variety of providers to practice telehealth, but also allows patients to experience a more consistent care experience because their care is consistently available.  

• States are proposing changes to prescription requirements. California, New Hampshire, and Washington either passed or proposed bills or rules that would revise prescription standards and generally make it easier for providers to prescribe via telehealth. Washington proposed a rule allowing the initial screening and prescription of hearing aids to be conducted via telehealth. This continues a newer trend of creating more efficient and cost-effective care for patients, especially in remote areas.  

Telehealth is an important development in care delivery, but the regulatory patchwork is complicated. The McDermott Digital Health team works alongside the industry’s leading providers, payors and technology innovators to help them enter new markets, break down barriers to delivering accessible care and mitigate enforcement risk through proactive compliance. 

Asia Porter and Quinn Kopelman, summer associates in the Chicago office, also contributed to this article.