HEAT Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8677 To provide payments for home health services furnished via visual or audio telecommunication systems during an emergency period. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2020 Mr. MARSHALL (for himself, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. ARRINGTON, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide payments for home health services furnished via visual or audio telecommunication systems during an emergency period. 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 ‘‘Home health Emer- 4 gency Access to Telehealth Act’’ or the ‘‘HEAT Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:39 Nov 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8677.IH H8677 2 •HR 8677 IH SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS FOR HOME HEALTH 1 SERVICES FURNISHED VIA VISUAL OR AUDIO 2 TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS DURING AN 3 EMERGENCY PERIOD. 4 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 6 1135(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 7 1320b–5(b)) is amended— 8 (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 9 the end; 10 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe- 11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (C) by adding the following new para- 13 graph: 14 ‘‘(9) in the case of home health services fur- 15 nished in an emergency area (or portion of such an 16 area) during any portion of any emergency period 17 (as those terms are defined in subsection (g)(1)(C)), 18 the provisions of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec- 19 tion 1895(e)(1), as determined appropriate by the 20 Secretary.’’. 21 (2) DEFINITIONS OF EMERGENCY AREA; EMER- 22 GENCY PERIOD.—Section 1135(g)(1) of the Social 23 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)) is amend- 24 ed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8677.IH H8677 3 •HR 8677 IH (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 1 paragraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs 2 (B) and (C)’’; and 3 (B) by adding at the end the following new 4 subparagraph: 5 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.—For pur- 6 poses of subsection (b)(9), an ‘emergency area’ 7 is a geographical area in which, and an ‘emer- 8 gency period’ is the period during which, there 9 exists a public health emergency declared by the 10 Secretary pursuant to section 319 of the Public 11 Health Service Act.’’. 12 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 1895(e) of the Social 13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395fff(e)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), nothing’’; 16 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 17 graph (3); and 18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 19 lowing new paragraph: 20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 21 GENCIES.—Nothing in this section shall be con- 22 strued as preventing a home health agency fur- 23 nishing a home health unit of service for which pay- 24 ment is made under the prospective payment system 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8677.IH H8677 4 •HR 8677 IH established by this section for such units of service 1 from furnishing services via a video or audio tele- 2 communication system if such services— 3 ‘‘(A) are furnished pursuant to a waiver 4 under section 1135(b)(9); 5 ‘‘(B) constitute no more than 50 percent of 6 the number of billable visits, consistent with the 7 in-person visit equivalency determination, billed 8 under the 30-day period of care established 9 under section 484.215(f) of title 42, Code of 10 Federal Regulations; 11 ‘‘(C) are furnished to a beneficiary under 12 a plan of care established by a physician or 13 practitioner with whom the beneficiary has an 14 existing care relationship prior to the receipt of 15 home health services that includes home health 16 services to be furnished via a video or audio 17 telecommunication system; and 18 ‘‘(D) such beneficiary consents to receiving 19 home health services via a video or audio tele- 20 communication system.’’. 21 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre- 23 scribe regulations to apply to home health services 24 furnished pursuant to the amendments made by this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8677.IH H8677 5 •HR 8677 IH Act, which shall become effective no later than 60 1 days after the date of enactment of this Act. The 2 Secretary shall issue an interim final rule, if nec- 3 essary, to comply with the required effective date. 4 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing such reg- 5 ulations, the Secretary may consider including— 6 (A) standards for the content of orders 7 and patient consent for such services; 8 (B) documentation of such services pro- 9 vided and billing units of such services; 10 (C) the nature and level of resources uti- 11 lized for such services provided via video or 12 audio telecommunication systems for purposes 13 of determining equivalency with in-person visits 14 in establishing the payment for such services; 15 and 16 (D) standards to ensure program integrity 17 and prevent the incidence of fraud, waste, and 18 abuse with respect to such services. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8677.IH H8677