Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) strongly supports legislation (A.1983/ S.5657) that amends the education law for the purpose of enabling New York State to join the interstate medical licensure compact (IMLC) which provides a streamlined process that allows physicians to become licensed in multiple participating states, thereby enhancing the portability of a medical license and ensuring the safety of patients.
A major barrier to the further adoption of telehealth is interstate licensing rules which prevent clinicians from seeing patients virtually, even long-standing patients, who happen to be located outside of New York at the time of the visit, unless the clinician is licensed in that other state. The problem is acute for mental and behavioral health. New York has an abundance of high-quality hospitals, doctors, and other providers, and patients from all around the country come to New York to seek care. Licensing rules make this more difficult by preventing out of state patients from using telehealth to see a New York provider. It also makes it much harder for New York residents, such as college students or retirees, who happen to be out of state for an extended period, from receiving care from their usual primary care, mental health, or other provider. In the current environment, obtaining a license in another state is incredibly time consuming and has onerous requirements causing many providers to choose not to pursue the license. We need access to a better, more streamlined approach to securing licenses.
Participation in the IMLC has seen a significant increase since it became operational in April 2017. The Compact currently includes 40 states, the District of Columbia and the Territory of Guam. In these jurisdictions, physicians are licensed by 52 different medical and osteopathic boards. Between April 2017 and May 2025, the IMLC received 95,593 letters of qualification applications and 152,755 license requests. In May 2025 alone, the IMLC received 4,396 license requests.
Recent states to join IMLC include New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Ohio, and Indiana.