Online consultation in US: reimbursement is becoming more common #health20fr

As the latest NYTimes article tells us, American patients are ready for online consultation, but it won't take off until doctors get paid for it. Take a quick look at the numbers

1) 42% of American doctors say they have exchanged by email with their patients. This is not a consultation of course.  9 million Americans say they have exchanged by (ordinary, non secure (!)) email with their doctor. This is not reimbursed.
2) 80 million (!) Americans would be interested in getting an online consultation.
3) Various insurers including Cigna, Aetna, Blue Shield, Wellpoint, Humana reimburse online consultation. But only 1% of their physicians have begun to do so. 
4) Insurers tend to reimburse the online consultation from 1/3 to 1/2 of the price of an office consult.

5) 12 American states including California have legislation making it mandatory to pay for online consultation and telemedicine.

6)  The US Dept of Human and Health Services is awarding grants of $220 million to 15 American communities that wish to run pilot program online consultation services.