KEEP Telehealth Options Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4216 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct studies and report to Congress on actions taken to expand access to telehealth services under the Medi- care, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance programs during the COVID–19 emergency. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 20, 2020 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct studies and report to Congress on actions taken to ex- pand access to telehealth services under the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance programs during the COVID–19 emergency. 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 ‘‘Knowing the Efficiency 4 and Efficacy of Permanent Telehealth Options Act of 5 2020’’ or the ‘‘KEEP Telehealth Options Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4216 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) On January 21, 2020, the United States 3 confirmed the Nation’s first case of the 2019 novel 4 coronavirus (which presents as the disease COVID– 5 19). 6 (2) On January 31, 2020, the Secretary of 7 Health and Human Services (in this Act referred to 8 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) declared a public health emer- 9 gency in response to COVID–19. 10 (3) By March, the disease reached the pan- 11 demic level according to the World Health Organiza- 12 tion, and the President proclaimed the COVID–19 13 outbreak in the United States to constitute a na- 14 tional emergency. 15 (4) This emergency declaration authorizes the 16 Secretary ‘‘to temporarily waive or modify certain 17 requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State 18 Children’s Health Insurance programs and of the 19 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 20 Privacy Rule throughout the duration of the public 21 health emergency declared in response to the 22 COVID–19 outbreak’’. 23 (5) Under this authority, the Secretary, and the 24 Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Med- 25 icaid Services (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Ad- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4216 IS ministrator’’) acting under the Secretary’s authority, 1 issued numerous rules, regulations, and waivers ena- 2 bling the expansion of telehealth services during the 3 public health emergency. 4 (6) Telehealth services play a critical role in en- 5 hancing access to care for patients while simulta- 6 neously reducing the risk of exposure to the 7 coronavirus for both patients and providers. 8 (7) The Administrator expanded access to tele- 9 health services under the public health emergency to 10 all Medicare beneficiaries (including clinician-pro- 11 vided services to new and established patients). 12 (8) On April 23, 2020, the Administrator re- 13 leased a telehealth toolkit to assist States in expand- 14 ing the use of telehealth through Medicaid and 15 CHIP. 16 (9) Expanded telehealth options are valuable 17 for all Americans during this public health crisis, 18 but especially for high-risk patients and rural Ameri- 19 cans who already have difficulty accessing care. 20 SEC. 3. STUDIES AND REPORTS ON THE EXPANSION OF AC- 21 CESS TO TELEHEALTH SERVICES DURING 22 THE COVID–19 EMERGENCY. 23 (a) HHS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4216 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary, in consultation with the Administrator, shall 3 conduct a study and submit to Congress a report on 4 actions taken by the Secretary during the emergency 5 period described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the So- 6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)) to 7 expand access to telehealth services under the Medi- 8 care program, the Medicaid program, and the Chil- 9 dren’s Health Insurance program. Such report shall 10 include the following: 11 (A) A comprehensive list of telehealth serv- 12 ices available under such programs and an ex- 13 planation of all actions undertaken by the Sec- 14 retary during the emergency period described in 15 such paragraph to expand access to such serv- 16 ices. 17 (B) A comprehensive list of types of pro- 18 viders that may be reimbursed for such services 19 furnished under such programs during such pe- 20 riod, including a list of services which may only 21 be reimbursed under such programs during 22 such period if furnished by such providers in- 23 person. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4216 IS (C) A quantitative analysis of the use of 1 such telehealth services under such programs 2 during such period, including data points on 3 use by rural, minority, low-income, and elderly 4 populations. 5 (D) A quantitative analysis of the use of 6 such services under such programs during such 7 period for mental and behavioral health treat- 8 ments. 9 (E) An analysis of the public health im- 10 pacts of the actions described in subparagraph 11 (A). 12 (2) PUBLICATION OF REPORT.—Not later than 13 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 14 the Secretary shall publish on the public website of 15 the Department of Health and Human Services the 16 report described in paragraph (1). 17 (b) GAO.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 210 days 19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp- 20 troller General of the United States shall conduct a 21 study and submit to Congress a report on— 22 (A) the efficiency, management, and suc- 23 cess and failures of the expansion of access to 24 telehealth services under the Medicare, Med- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4216 IS icaid, and Children’s Health Insurance pro- 1 grams during the emergency period described in 2 subsection (a)(1); and 3 (B) any risk in increased fraudulent activ- 4 ity, and types of fraudulent activity, associated 5 with such expansion. 6 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report sub- 7 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include rec- 8 ommendations on— 9 (A) potential improvements to telehealth 10 services, and expansions of such services, under 11 the programs described in paragraph (1)(A); 12 and 13 (B) ways to address any fraudulent activ- 14 ity described in paragraph (1)(B). 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4216.IS S4216 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS