TREATS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7593 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase the use of telehealth for substance use disorder treatment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 13, 2020 Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. BUDD) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase the use of telehealth for substance use disorder treat- ment, 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 Response 4 for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services Act’’ or 5 ‘‘TREATS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7593.IH H7593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7593 IH SEC. 2. TELEHEALTH FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 1 TREATMENT. 2 (a) SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES FUR- 3 NISHED THROUGH TELEHEALTH UNDER MEDICARE.— 4 Section 1834(m)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5 1395m(m)(7)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: ‘‘With respect to telehealth services described in 7 the preceding sentence that are furnished on or after Jan- 8 uary 1, 2020, nothing shall preclude the furnishing of 9 such services through audio or telephone only technologies 10 in the case where a physician or practitioner has already 11 conducted an in-person medical evaluation or a telehealth 12 evaluation that utilizes both audio and visual capabilities 13 with the eligible telehealth individual.’’. 14 (b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES DISPENSED BY 15 MEANS OF THE INTERNET.—Section 309(e)(2) of the 16 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 829(e)(2)) is 17 amended— 18 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘at least 1 in-person med- 20 ical evaluation’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘at 21 least— 22 ‘‘(I) 1 in-person medical evalua- 23 tion’’; and 24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7593.IH H7593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7593 IH ‘‘(II) for purposes of prescribing 1 a controlled substance in schedule III 2 or IV, 1 telehealth evaluation; or’’; 3 and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(D)(i) The term ‘telehealth evaluation’ 6 means a medical evaluation that is conducted in 7 accordance with applicable Federal and State 8 laws by a practitioner (other than a phar- 9 macist) who is at a location remote from the 10 patient and is communicating with the patient 11 using a telecommunications system referred to 12 in section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act 13 (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) that includes, at a min- 14 imum, audio and video equipment permitting 15 two-way, real-time interactive communication 16 between the patient and distant site practi- 17 tioner. 18 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in clause (i) shall be con- 19 strued to imply that 1 telehealth evaluation 20 demonstrates that a prescription has been 21 issued for a legitimate medical purpose within 22 the usual course of professional practice. 23 ‘‘(iii) A practitioner who prescribes the 24 drugs or combination of drugs that are covered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7593.IH H7593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7593 IH under section 303(g)(2)(C) using the authority 1 under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) of this para- 2 graph shall adhere to nationally recognized evi- 3 dence-based guidelines for the treatment of pa- 4 tients with opioid use disorders and a diversion 5 control plan, as those terms are defined in sec- 6 tion 8.2 of title 42, Code of Federal Regula- 7 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of 8 this subparagraph.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7593.IH H7593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS