Mental Health Telemedicine Expansion Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1301 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare program of certain mental health telehealth services. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 15, 2019 Ms. DELBENE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare program of certain men- tal health telehealth services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental Health Tele- 4 medicine Expansion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1301.IH H1301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1301 IH SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF CERTAIN MENTAL 1 HEALTH TELEHEALTH SERVICES. 2 Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (42 3 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (4)(F)(i), by inserting ‘‘serv- 5 ices identified by CPT codes 90834 and 90837 (and 6 as subsequently modified by the Secretary),’’ before 7 ‘‘and any additional service’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(8) TREATMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH TELE- 11 HEALTH SERVICES.— 12 ‘‘(A) NON-APPLICATION OF ORIGINATING 13 SITE REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements de- 14 scribed in paragraph (4)(C) shall not apply with 15 respect to telehealth services furnished on or 16 after January 1, 2020, that are mental health 17 telehealth services. Nothing in the previous sen- 18 tence shall waive any applicable State law re- 19 quirements. 20 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN SITES.— 21 With respect to telehealth services described in 22 subparagraph (A), the term ‘originating site’ 23 shall include the home of the eligible telehealth 24 individual at which the individual is located at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1301.IH H1301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1301 IH the time the service is furnished via a tele- 1 communications system. 2 ‘‘(C) NO ORIGINATING SITE FACILITY 3 FEE.—No facility fee shall be paid under para- 4 graph (2)(B) to an originating site with respect 5 to a telehealth service described in subpara- 6 graph (A) if the originating site does not other- 7 wise meet the requirements for an originating 8 site under paragraph (4)(C). 9 ‘‘(D) IN-PERSON ASSESSMENTS RE- 10 QUIRED.—Payment may not be made for men- 11 tal health telehealth services under this para- 12 graph (if such payment would not otherwise be 13 allowed under this subsection without applica- 14 tion of this paragraph) furnished to an eligible 15 telehealth individual unless— 16 ‘‘(i) prior to the provision of such 17 mental health telehealth services, a physi- 18 cian or practitioner furnished an in-person 19 assessment of the needs of such individual 20 for such services; and 21 ‘‘(ii) a physician or practitioner fur- 22 nishes a reassessment of the needs of such 23 individual for such services at a frequency 24 specified by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1301.IH H1301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1301 IH ‘‘(E) MENTAL HEALTH TELEHEALTH 1 SERVICES DEFINED.—For purposes of this 2 paragraph, the term ‘mental health telehealth 3 service’ means services identified by CPT codes 4 90834 and 90837 (and as subsequently modi- 5 fied by the Secretary).’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1301.IH H1301 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS