Tool: Telehealth Policy Finder

Across the country, no two states are alike in how they define and regulate telehealth. The Telehealth Policy Finder tool from PHI’s Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) compiles telehealth-related laws and regulations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as at the federal level. This tool helps policymakers, health advocates and other health care professionals understand the policies and trends throughout the nation.

Spring 2026 Updates

CCHP’s  Telehealth Policy Finder look-up tool and Policy Trend Maps were updated throughout the past month based on the latest information from ongoing state telehealth policy tracking. The latest states to be updated include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Multiple states have recently made changes to their telehealth policies in an array of policy areas, including Medicaid programs, private payer laws, professional regulations, and cross-state licensing requirements. Learn more about the specific changes in CCPH’s newsletter.

Fall 2025 Annual Update

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Medicaid programs across the United States have steadily refined and stabilized their telehealth policies, moving from emergency-driven flexibility to more permanent, structured frameworks. Since CCHP’s last 50-State Report in Fall 2024, states have continued to expand telehealth reimbursement in targeted areas—such as behavioral health, remote patient monitoring, and audio-only services—while also advancing cross-state licensing mechanisms through increased participation in interstate compacts and providing targeted licensing exceptions. At the same time, states are continuing to implement guardrails to ensure quality, such as clarifying provider responsibilities, consent standards, and modality-specific limitations, in an effort to balance expanded access with clinical integrity and oversight.

As states refine Medicaid and private payer telehealth policies, many are also turning to licensing boards and health agencies to set practice standards for telehealth. These rules aim to ensure that virtual care upholds the same standards of safety, quality, and accountability as in-person services, while often tailoring requirements to specific professions. A consistent theme is that providers must be licensed in the state where the patient is located, as seen in Wisconsin’s new rules for optometrists and behavioral health professionals and Louisiana’s new regulations for behavior analysts. Other states seek to refine their policies regarding the use of telehealth by certain professionals. For example, Wyoming’s new teledentistry practice standards have clarified that the practice of dentistry occurs where the patient is located, requiring dentists to establish valid provider-patient relationships before delivering teledentistry services.

Read the full Fall 2025 report, and explore the state summary chart showing where states stand on many key telehealth policies, as well as an infographic highlighting key findings.

Getting started with the Policy Finder

Launched in Spring 2021 by PHI’s Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP), the Policy Finder tool is a searchable, easy-to-use database that is updated consistently throughout the year. Formerly known as the State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Report, the information from the online database can be exported for each state into a PDF document using the most current information available on CCHP’s website.

Use the Policy Finder tool to:

• Look up telehealth-related laws and regulations by topic, including COVID-19, Medicaid & Medicare, Private Payer and Professional Requirements
• Explore all current laws, temporary COVID-19 actions, and pending legislation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as at the federal level
• Compare the policy of any of the topic areas for any two states
• View color-coded maps recapping policy trends by state across topic areas, including Medicaid reimbursement for live video, store and forward and remote patient monitoring

The Policy Finder is designed to provide timely policy information that is easy for users to navigate and understand. Watch a quick tutorial to explore the tool, see how to use it and learn about its features:

Please note: this information should not be construed as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney if you are seeking a legal opinion.

Originally published by Center for Connected Health Policy