{"id":416317,"date":"2026-07-29T07:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T07:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416317\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T07:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T07:30:07","slug":"guest-editorial-california-should-expand-access-to-telemedicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416317\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Editorial: California should expand access to telemedicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent story in the Los Angeles Times<\/a> highlights the problem of overregulation in California\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Santa Clarita Valley resident Robin Clough received life-saving care from a Texas oncologist. \u201cClough had several telemedicine followups with her Houston doctor, which was legal under California law that allows interstate telemedicine for patients with life-threatening conditions,\u201d reports Steve Lopez. \u201cBut the law does not apply to patients in remission, and so Clough is forced to travel to Texas for continued care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, you\u2019re reading that right. While the law recognizes the benefits of telemedicine for patients facing life-threatening conditions, the heavy hand of the state comes down on ongoing communications with out-of-state doctors the moment patients enter remission. Instead of being able to check in via a phone or computer, Clough has to buy a plane ticket.<\/p>\n

California is one of 30 states with such tight restrictions on telemedicine, forcing many patients into a similar predicament.<\/p>\n

To address circumstances like this, Sen. Roger Niello, R-Sacramento, introduced Senate Bill 1002 to expand telemedicine access. \u201cThese patients sought specialized care beyond California\u2019s borders when time was critical, and through that process established a successful, trusted patient-provider relationship that resulted in their improved prognosis,\u201d the bill\u2019s author statement reads. \u201cFor these survivors, continuity of care is central to maintaining their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the bill cleared the state Senate in April with a 35-0 vote (five not voting), it died in the Assembly\u2019s Business and Professions Committee. Long Beach-area Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal and Riverside-area Assemblyman Corey Jackson were among those who voted against it.<\/p>\n

State bureaucrats and those with a vested interest in restricting choice and competition in medicine were naturally opposed. \u201cLicensure is a vital form of consumer protection and ensures that physicians practicing in California have met the relevant statutory requirements to treat patients in this state,\u201d the Medical Board of California argued.<\/p>\n

Occupational licensing can be a form of consumer protection, sure, but when applied to out-of-state doctors in this manner, it functions primarily as an anti-competitive wall\u2014constraining patient choice regardless of practical necessity or actual patient health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to look back one day,\u201d Clough\u2019s husband, a doctor himself, told the Times, \u201cand see how ridiculous this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got that right.<\/p>\n

Written by The Orange County Register Editorial Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can email letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent story in the Los Angeles Times highlights the problem of overregulation in California\u2019s healthcare system. After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,65428,15052,166521],"class_list":["post-416317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-state-assembly","tag-state-senate","tag-telemedicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}