Telehealth Across State Lines Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2408 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a national telehealth program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 31, 2019 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a national telehealth program, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Telehealth Across 4 State Lines Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TELEHEALTH PROGRAM. 6 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2408.IS S2408 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2408 IS ‘‘SEC. 330N. NATIONAL TELEHEALTH PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in con- 3 sultation with a range of stakeholders including the 4 entities listed in paragraph (3), issue guidance on 5 uniform best practices for the provision of telehealth 6 across State lines. 7 ‘‘(2) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the best 8 practices issued under paragraph (1) shall be to, not 9 later than 5 years after the date of enactment of 10 this section, provide high-quality telehealth in rural 11 areas across the United States. 12 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—The entities listed in 13 this paragraph include— 14 ‘‘(A) technology experts; 15 ‘‘(B) data security experts; 16 ‘‘(C) primary care providers; 17 ‘‘(D) specialist providers; 18 ‘‘(E) mental health providers; 19 ‘‘(F) academic medical centers; 20 ‘‘(G) Federally qualified health centers, as 21 defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Secu- 22 rity Act; 23 ‘‘(H) State, local, or tribal health depart- 24 ments; 25 ‘‘(I) critical access hospitals; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2408.IS S2408 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2408 IS ‘‘(J) any Federal agency with expertise in 1 the provision of telecommunications or tele- 2 health. 3 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall, not less 4 than once every year beginning 1 year after the date 5 of enactment of this section and ending on the date 6 on which the guidance under paragraph (1) is 7 issued, report to the Committee on Health, Edu- 8 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 9 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 10 of Representatives on the progress of such guidance. 11 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall for 13 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 award 14 grants to eligible entities described in paragraph (2) 15 for the expansion of telehealth programs to rural 16 areas. 17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible to re- 18 ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall— 19 ‘‘(A) demonstrate that it is operating, on 20 the date on which the entity submits an appli- 21 cation under subparagraph (B), an effective 22 telehealth program (as determined in accord- 23 ance with criteria established by the Secretary); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2408.IS S2408 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2408 IS ‘‘(B) submit an application to the Sec- 1 retary at such time, in such manner, and con- 2 taining such information as the Secretary may 3 reasonably require, including a plan to expand 4 the telehealth program operated by the entity to 5 rural areas. 6 ‘‘(3) STUDY.—Not later than 3 years after the 7 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 8 shall— 9 ‘‘(A) complete a study on the grant pro- 10 gram under this subsection, including the suc- 11 cesses and challenges of the program, lessons 12 the Secretary has learned with respect to the 13 program, and best practices for telehealth pro- 14 grams; and 15 ‘‘(B) submit a report on such study to the 16 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 17 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 18 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives. 20 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 22 this subsection, $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 23 2020 through 2024. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2408.IS S2408 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2408 IS ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—In this section, 1 the term ‘rural area’ has the meaning given the term in 2 section 330J(e).’’. 3 SEC. 3. CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID INNOVA- 4 TION (CMMI) MODEL TO INCENTIVIZE THE 5 ADOPTION OF TELEHEALTH IN ORDER TO IN- 6 CREASE ACCESS TO CARE IN RURAL AREAS. 7 Section 1115A(b)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act 8 (42 U.S.C. 1395a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the 9 end the following new clause: 10 ‘‘(xxviii) Providing incentives under 11 title XVIII to encourage the adoption of 12 telehealth in order to increase access to 13 care in rural areas.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2408.IS S2408 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS