VA Telehealth Expansion Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7879 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant program to expand and improve the provision of telehealth services to veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2020 Mrs. LEE of Nevada (for herself, Mr. BANKS, Mr. STEIL, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant program to expand and improve the provision of telehealth services to veterans. 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 ‘‘VA Telehealth Expan- 4 sion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO EXPAND TELEHEALTH FROM 6 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 shall enter into partnerships, and expand existing partner- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7879 IH ships, with entities that represent or serve veterans, non- 1 profit organizations, private businesses, and other inter- 2 ested parties for the expansion of telehealth capabilities 3 and the provision of telehealth services to veterans 4 through the award of grants under subsection (c). Such 5 telehealth services shall be provided by health care pro- 6 viders of the Department of Veterans Affairs or through 7 the Veterans Community Care Program under section 8 1703 of title 38, United States Code. 9 (b) PREFERENCE.—When selecting entities with 10 which to enter into or to expand a partnership under sub- 11 section (a), the Secretary shall give preference to entities 12 that— 13 (1) represent veterans in rural or highly rural 14 areas (as determined through the use of the Rural- 15 Urban Commuting Areas coding system of the De- 16 partment of Agriculture); or 17 (2) operate in a medically underserved commu- 18 nity (as defined in section 799B of the Public 19 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)). 20 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out partnerships 22 entered into or expanded under this section with en- 23 tities described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall 24 award grants to those entities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7879 IH (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The 1 amount of a grant awarded under this subsection 2 may not exceed $75,000 in one year. 3 (3) USE OF GRANTS.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded to an 5 entity under this subsection may be used for 6 one or more of the following: 7 (i) Purchasing or upgrading hardware 8 or software necessary for the provision of 9 secure and private telehealth services. 10 (ii) Upgrading security protocols for 11 consistency with the security requirements 12 of the Department. 13 (iii) Training of employees, including 14 payment of those employees for completing 15 that training, with respect to— 16 (I) military and veteran cultural 17 competence, if the entity is not an or- 18 ganization that represents veterans; 19 (II) appropriate processes for 20 handling emergencies that occur dur- 21 ing telehealth; 22 (III) equipment required to pro- 23 vide telehealth services; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7879 IH (IV) any other unique training 1 needs for the provision of telehealth 2 services to veterans. 3 (iv) Upgrading existing infrastructure 4 owned or leased by the entity to make 5 rooms more conducive to telehealth care, 6 including— 7 (I) additions or modifications to 8 windows or walls in an existing room, 9 or other alterations as needed to cre- 10 ate a new, private room; 11 (II) soundproofing of an existing 12 room; 13 (III) new electrical or internet 14 outlets in an existing room; or 15 (IV) aesthetic or other enhance- 16 ments to establish a more suitable 17 therapeutic environment. 18 (v) Upgrading existing infrastructure 19 to comply with the Americans with Disabil- 20 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 21 seq.). 22 (vi) Upgrading infrastructure or inter- 23 net services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7879 IH (B) EXCLUSION.—Grants may not be used 1 for the purchase of new property or for major 2 construction projects, as determined by the Sec- 3 retary. 4 (d) AGREEMENT ON TELEHEALTH ACCESS 5 POINTS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity described in sub- 7 section (a) that seeks to establish a telehealth access 8 point for veterans but does not require grant fund- 9 ing under this section to do so may enter into an 10 agreement with the Department for the establish- 11 ment of such an access point. 12 (2) INSPECTION TO DETERMINE ADEQUACY OF 13 FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall inspect any such 14 access point to determine whether the access point 15 is private, secure, and accessible to veterans. 16 (e) ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS TO ACCESS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary shall complete an assessment of barriers faced 20 by veterans in accessing telehealth services. 21 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 22 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 23 (A) An assessment of current and potential 24 future barriers, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7879 IH (i) cost; 1 (ii) access to broadband internet in- 2 frastructure and technology; 3 (iii) digital competency; and 4 (iv) discrimination (including cultural, 5 language, or medical discrimination). 6 (B) A description of how the Secretary 7 plans to address the barriers described in sub- 8 paragraph (A). 9 (C) Such other matters related access by 10 veterans to telehealth while not on property of 11 the Department the Secretary determines rel- 12 evant. 13 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 14 the completion of the assessment required by para- 15 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 16 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 17 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 18 Representatives a report on the assessment, includ- 19 ing any recommendations for legislative or adminis- 20 trative action based on the results of the assessment. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS