Kansas telemedicine bill stalled by abortion fight

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April 13, 2018 - 11:00 PM

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A political fight over abortion restrictions could prevent passage of a bill in the Kansas Legislature that would improve telemedicine access across the state, particularly in rural areas.

The bill would require insurance companies in Kansas to cover health care services provided through telemedicine if insurance already covers the services during personal visits to a doctor. It has been approved in different forms in the House and Senate, but its future is uncertain because of the disagreement, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported .

The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life has insisted the bill include language forbidding abortion by telemedicine, which already is prohibited by state law. The group also wants lawmakers to include a “non-severability” clause that would legally bind the abortion and telemedicine sections of the bill. The clause would mean if the abortion ban is struck down sometime in the future, the telemedicine portion of the law would also be nullified.

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