North Dakota requires private insurers to cover telehealth but not at parity rates

Summary

North Dakota law requires commercial insurers to cover telehealth on the same basis as in-person care, but it explicitly leaves reimbursement rates to negotiation between insurer and provider. There is no payment parity, so private payers can reimburse telehealth at lower rates than in-person services.

North Dakota mandates private-payer coverage parity for telehealth, but the statute states reimbursement may be established through negotiations between the insurer and the provider, meaning there is no rate (payment) parity. As a result, commercial insurers can legally pay less for a telehealth visit than for the equivalent in-person visit. This affects providers' ability to sustain telehealth programs and can limit telehealth availability for privately insured North Dakotans.

Source: Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP), North Dakota state telehealth page (2026).

North Dakota requires private insurers to cover telehealth but not at parity rates

Summary

Discussion