This letter to the editor appeared in The Blade.

The Blade’s recent editorial on telehealth (“Cover telemedicine,” Oct 21) gets it right. Telemedicine will be “a critical component in the future of health care.”

Ohio has experienced an explosion in demand for telehealth across the state, with Toledo-based Harbor seeing a 564 percent increase since 2019 as just one example of the skyrocketing demand.

To allow Ohioans to continue to benefit from telehealth, action is needed by state policymakers in addition to action by Congress. The Buckeye Institute-championed House Bill 679 gives Ohio lawmakers the opportunity to expand access to health care by making temporary telehealth rules permanent, which will encourage much-needed competition in health care and allow patients, particularly those in rural areas, to save time and money when they seek care.

Minor changes that allow Ohioans to use telehealth across state-lines would further improve the bill and would make it easier for Ohioans to see specialists in other states.

As we have witnessed throughout the pandemic, there is now widespread agreement among patients, care providers, and lawmakers that telehealth offers patients safe, effective, and efficient options in health care, and the time has come to adjust the rules that govern it.

James Woodward
Columbus
Economic Research Analyst
The Buckeye Institute