Telehealth Across State Lines Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4900 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a national telehealth program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 29, 2019 Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee (for himself and Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy 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 jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4900.IH H4900 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4900 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL TELEHEALTH PROGRAM. 1 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 2 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 330N. NATIONAL TELEHEALTH PROGRAM. 5 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in con- 7 sultation with a range of stakeholders including the 8 entities listed in paragraph (3), issue guidance on 9 uniform best practices for the provision of telehealth 10 across State lines. 11 ‘‘(2) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the best 12 practices issued under paragraph (1) shall be to, not 13 later than 5 years after the date of enactment of 14 this section, provide high-quality telehealth in rural 15 areas across the United States. 16 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—The entities listed in 17 this paragraph include— 18 ‘‘(A) technology experts; 19 ‘‘(B) data security experts; 20 ‘‘(C) primary care providers; 21 ‘‘(D) specialist providers; 22 ‘‘(E) mental health providers; 23 ‘‘(F) academic medical centers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4900.IH H4900 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4900 IH ‘‘(G) Federally qualified health centers, as 1 defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Secu- 2 rity Act; 3 ‘‘(H) State, local, or tribal health depart- 4 ments; 5 ‘‘(I) critical access hospitals; and 6 ‘‘(J) any Federal agency with expertise in 7 the provision of telecommunications or tele- 8 health. 9 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall, not less 10 than once every year beginning 1 year after the date 11 of enactment of this section and ending on the date 12 on which the guidance under paragraph (1) is 13 issued, report to the Committee on Health, Edu- 14 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 15 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 16 of Representatives on the progress of such guidance. 17 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall for 19 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 award 20 grants to eligible entities described in paragraph (2) 21 for the expansion of telehealth programs to rural 22 areas. 23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible to re- 24 ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4900.IH H4900 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4900 IH ‘‘(A) demonstrate that it is operating, on 1 the date on which the entity submits an appli- 2 cation under subparagraph (B), an effective 3 telehealth program (as determined in accord- 4 ance with criteria established by the Secretary); 5 and 6 ‘‘(B) submit an application to the Sec- 7 retary at such time, in such manner, and con- 8 taining such information as the Secretary may 9 reasonably require, including a plan to expand 10 the telehealth program operated by the entity to 11 rural areas. 12 ‘‘(3) STUDY.—Not later than 3 years after the 13 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 14 shall— 15 ‘‘(A) complete a study on the grant pro- 16 gram under this subsection, including the suc- 17 cesses and challenges of the program, lessons 18 the Secretary has learned with respect to the 19 program, and best practices for telehealth pro- 20 grams; and 21 ‘‘(B) submit a report on such study to the 22 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 23 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4900.IH H4900 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4900 IH Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives. 2 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 4 this subsection, $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 5 2020 through 2024. 6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—In this section, 7 the term ‘rural area’ has the meaning given the term in 8 section 330J(e).’’. 9 SEC. 3. CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID INNOVA- 10 TION (CMMI) MODEL TO INCENTIVIZE THE 11 ADOPTION OF TELEHEALTH IN ORDER TO IN- 12 CREASE ACCESS TO CARE IN RURAL AREAS. 13 Section 1115A(b)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act 14 (42 U.S.C. 1395a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the 15 end the following new clause: 16 ‘‘(xxviii) Providing incentives under 17 title XVIII to encourage the adoption of 18 telehealth in order to increase access to 19 care in rural areas.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4900.IH H4900 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS