Facilitating Reforms that Offer Necessary Telehealth In Every Rural (FRONTIER) Community Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4211 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access in frontier States to mental health services furnished through telehealth, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 2, 2020 Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access in frontier States to mental health services fur- nished through telehealth, 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 ‘‘Facilitating Reforms 4 that Offer Necessary Telehealth In Every Rural (FRON- 5 TIER) Community Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4211.IS S4211 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4211 IS SEC. 2. EXPANDING ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 1 FURNISHED IN FRONTIER STATES THROUGH 2 TELEHEALTH. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1834(m) of the Social Se- 4 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), in the matter pre- 6 ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘paragraph (6)(C)’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (6)(C) and (9)’’; 8 (2) in paragraph (4)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘and 9 (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7), and (9)’’; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(9) TREATMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SERV- 13 ICES FURNISHED IN FRONTIER STATES.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The originating site 15 requirements under paragraph (4)(C) shall not 16 apply with respect to telehealth services fur- 17 nished on or after January 1, 2021, that are 18 furnished in a frontier State (as defined in sec- 19 tion 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii)(II)) and are mental 20 health services (as determined by the Sec- 21 retary), except that a facility fee under para- 22 graph (2)(B)(i) may only be paid to an origi- 23 nating site that is a site described in any of 24 subclauses (I) through (IX) of paragraph 25 (4)(C)(ii). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4211.IS S4211 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4211 IS ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF ORIGINATING SITE.— 1 With respect to telehealth services described in 2 subparagraph (A), the term ‘originating site’ 3 means any fixed or mobile location at which the 4 individual is located at the time the service is 5 furnished.’’. 6 (b) GRANTS FOR THE DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND 7 STRUCTURE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Fed- 9 eral Communications Commission and the Adminis- 10 trator of the Rural Utilities Service of the United 11 States Department of Agriculture, in consultation 12 with the Administrator of the Health Resources and 13 Services Administration and the Director of the In- 14 dian Health Service, shall award grants for the de- 15 ployment of broadband infrastructure in frontier 16 States, as defined in section 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of 17 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 1395ww(d)(3)(E)(iii)(II)), to support the furnishing 19 of mental health services through telehealth pursu- 20 ant to section 1834(m)(9) of such Act, as added by 21 subsection (a). 22 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 23 be appropriated such sums as are necessary for pur- 24 poses of carrying out this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4211.IS S4211 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4211 IS SEC. 3. INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE FACILITIES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1834(m)(4)(C) of the So- 2 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)(C)), as amend- 3 ed by section 2(a), is amended— 4 (1) in clause (i), in the matter preceding sub- 5 clause (I), by inserting ‘‘, and subject to clause (iii)’’ 6 after ‘‘and (9)’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following new 8 clause: 9 ‘‘(iii) INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE FA- 10 CILITIES.—The originating site require- 11 ments described in clauses (i) and (ii) shall 12 not apply with respect to a facility of the 13 Indian Health Service, whether operated 14 by such Service, or by an Indian tribe (as 15 that term is defined in section 4 of the In- 16 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 17 U.S.C. 1603)) or a tribal organization (as 18 that term is defined in section 4 of the In- 19 dian Self-Determination and Education 20 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)).’’. 21 (b) NO ORIGINATING SITE FACILITY FEE FOR NEW 22 SITES.—Section 1834(m)(2)(B)(i) of the Social Security 23 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(2)(B)(i)) is amended, in the 24 matter preceding subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘(other than 25 an originating site that is only described in clause (iii) of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4211.IS S4211 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4211 IS paragraph (4)(C), and does not meet the requirement for 1 an originating site under clause (i) of such paragraph)’’ 2 after ‘‘the originating site’’. 3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 4 this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 5 January 1, 2021. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4211.IS S4211 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS