Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) last week wrote a letter to Representative Clint P. Moses and members of the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care praising proposed legislation to expand and secure access to quality telehealth services for Wisconsinites. ERIC urged the Committee to support AB 212, which allows Wisconsin to maintain regulatory oversight of out-of-state telehealth providers by permitting them to offer telehealth services in the state as long as they meet specific licensure, conduct, and insurance criteria.
The use of telehealth services has increased sharply in recent years. In 2021, the Kaiser Family Foundation began examining the use of telemedicine benefits to determine how employers were adjusting their benefits and policies in response to the pandemic. In 2022, the organization reported that 96% of large employers offered telehealth benefits, a substantial increase from 82% in 2019. Federal policymakers enacted pandemic-era policies to increase access to telehealth services – patients, practitioners, and employer organizations, including ERIC, advocate to maintain and expand patient access to these services today.
“As plan sponsors, ERIC member companies strive to provide the best health benefits possible to their employees, retirees, and families at an affordable cost,” said ERIC Director of State Advocacy, Dillon Clair. “AB 212 represents a clear, uniform, and expedited approach that allows much-needed out-of-state providers to deliver invaluable care to patients in Wisconsin. This approach has a dual benefit in that it provides employers with tools to meet the needs of their workforce and also allows the ‘Badger State’ to address continuing provider shortages.”
Background
As drafted, AB 212 would centralize out-of-state provider applications and uphold state medical standards by requiring out-of-state provider applicants to seek approval before providing telehealth services in Wisconsin. Applicants would be required to:
- Submit an application to the Department of Safety and Professional Services or an applicable credentialing board,
- Be licensed and in good standing in another state,
- Have no disciplinary actions taken against them in the past five years,
- Designate an in-state registered agent, and
- Maintain liability insurance covering services provided to patients in Wisconsin.
ERIC is a national advocacy organization exclusively representing the largest employers in the United States in their capacity as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces. With member companies that are leaders in every economic sector, ERIC is the voice of large employer plan sponsors on federal, state, and local public policies impacting their ability to sponsor benefit plans. ERIC member companies offer benefits to tens of millions of employees and their families, located in every state and city across the country.
The full text of ERIC’s letter can be found here.