Expanded Telehealth Access Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3875 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the scope of practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under the Medi- care program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2023 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. CARSON, Mr. VALADAO, Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia, Mr. POCAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MANN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. PEREZ, Ms. WILD, Mr. STANTON, Mr. BACON, Mr. ALLRED, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the scope of practitioners eligible for payment for tele- health services under the Medicare program, 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 ‘‘Expanded Telehealth 4 Access Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3875.IH H3875 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3875 IH SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF PRACTITIONERS ELIGI- 1 BLE FOR PAYMENT FOR TELEHEALTH SERV- 2 ICES UNDER MEDICARE. 3 (a) TELEHEALTH PROVIDER PARITY.—Section 4 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) 5 is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (2)— 7 (A) by inserting before ‘‘located at a dis- 8 tant site’’ the following ‘‘(or, in the case of an 9 occupational therapy assistant described in 10 paragraph (4)(E)(ii)(II) or a physical therapist 11 assistant described in paragraph (4)(E)(ii)(III), 12 shall pay with respect to such assistant)’’; and 13 (B) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of an oc- 14 cupational therapy assistant described in para- 15 graph (4)(E)(ii)(II) or a physical therapist as- 16 sistant described in paragraph (4)(E)(ii)(III), 17 the amount that would have been paid under 18 this title with respect to such assistant)’’ after 19 ‘‘would have been paid under this title’’; 20 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘de- 21 scribed in subparagraph (C) of such section’’ after 22 ‘‘practitioners’’; and 23 (3) in paragraph (4), by amending subpara- 24 graph (E) to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3875.IH H3875 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3875 IH ‘‘(E) PRACTITIONER DESCRIBED.—The 1 term ‘practitioner’ means any of the following: 2 ‘‘(i) A practitioner described in section 3 1842(b)(18)(C). 4 ‘‘(ii) With respect to services fur- 5 nished on or after the date of enactment of 6 the Expanded Telehealth Access Act, a li- 7 censed— 8 ‘‘(I) qualified audiologist (as de- 9 fined in section 1861(ll)(4)(B)); 10 ‘‘(II) occupational therapist and 11 occupational therapy assistant under 12 the supervision of an occupational 13 therapist; 14 ‘‘(III) physical therapist and 15 physical therapist assistant under the 16 supervision of a physical therapist; 17 ‘‘(IV) qualified speech-language 18 pathologist (as defined in section 19 1861(ll)(4)(A)); 20 ‘‘(V) facility described in para- 21 graph (8) or (9) of section 1833(a) 22 that furnishes telehealth therapy serv- 23 ices; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3875.IH H3875 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3875 IH ‘‘(VI) any additional health care 1 provider, as specified by the Sec- 2 retary, who participates under this 3 title and furnishes a service that is in- 4 cluded as a telehealth service under 5 this subsection.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3875.IH H3875 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB