Press Release June 3, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
White Birch Communications
Kate Fleming / kfleming@dupontgroup.com
718-450-0646
Amended Telehealth Bill to be Presented to Senate Health and Human Services Committee at a virtual public hearing on June 4th
CONCORD, NH – On June 4th at 8 am, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a virtual public hearing on an amendment that will greatly expand the legislative authority for the use of telehealth services in NH. The amendment to HB 1623 proposes to put into law significant changes associated with reimbursement and access for Medicated-Assisted Treatment for substance use disorders, and will also memorialize in state law the Governor’s Emergency Order on Telehealth, which was developed out of necessity for health care providers during COVID-19.
The New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Association (NHCBHA) strongly endorses this amendment as a major step forward in access to mental health services in New Hampshire.
Jay Couture, President of NHCBHA, and President and CEO of Seacoast Mental Health Center, said, “The current pandemic required behavioral health and other providers to rapidly switch the delivery of services from an in-person modality to telehealth, with the goals of creating no gaps in care and enhancing existing services. This transition has been both transformative and successful, with most telehealth patients surveyed to date reacting favorably.” Couture added, “The positive provider and consumer experience, combined with concerns of re-emergence of COVID-19, requires that we enact a more permanent legal and regulatory structure for delivering care via telehealth.”
“While telehealth existed for many years previously, the need for physical distancing to prevent infection by the COVID-19 virus has brought the concept and the practice into the mainstream,” added Roger Osmun, CEO of West Central Behavioral Health in Lebanon. “As a behavioral health professional and administrator, I hope that professionals and policy makers alike continue to embrace telehealth as a valuable extension of traditional healthcare — not as a replacement but a complement.”
HB 1623 will be put forth at a public hearing on June 4th at 8 am. Members of the public may attend using the following links:
- To sign-in and/or speak in support or opposition, please register in advance by using this link: https://www.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_My1hryTkS52unCldLbpOwA
- To submit your testimony to the committee, please send all documents via email to remotesenate@leg.state.nh.us
- To listen via telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): 1-301-715-8592, or 1-312-626-6799, or 1-929-205-6099, or 1-253-215-8782, or 1-346- 248-7799, or 1-669-900-6833
- Or iPhone one-tap: 13017158592,,91175168535# or 13126266799,,91175168535#
- Webinar ID: 911 7516 8535
- To view/listen to this hearing on YouTube, use this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjBZdtrjRnQdmg-2MPMiWrA The following email will be monitored throughout the meeting by someone who can assist with and alert the committee to any technical issues: remotesenate@leg.state.nh.us or call (603-271-3043).