For more information about this blog post, please contact Khaled J. Klele, Ryan M. Magee, Labinot Alexander Berlajolli, or Connor Breza.

In our July 15, 2021 healthcare Law Update, we noted that the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate passed S2559, which requires State and private insurers in New Jersey to pay for telemedicine services at the same rate as in-person services. Yesterday, Governor Murphy issued a conditional veto of S2559. Although a lot of nice things were said about telemedicine in the conditional veto, ultimately, Governor Murphy could not approve S2559 citing fiscal concerns, among other things. Instead, he recommended that “Senate Bill No. 2559 (Fourth Reprint) be amended to require the Department of Health (‘DOH’) to, within the next 18 months, assess pay parity and make a policy recommendation as to whether and under what circumstances pay parity should continue, taking into account the considerations discussed above.” Governor Murphy also recommended that “pay parity remain in place through the end of 2023 in order to give policymakers ample time to review the results of the study and make revisions to the law, as appropriate.”

As noted in the conditional veto, the pay parity requirement will expire on January 11, 2022, unless the New Jersey Legislature and Governor Murphy extend the policy as recommended by the Governor.