[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3967 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3967
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make permanent
certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 19, 2024
Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Blackburn,
Ms. Smith, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. King)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make permanent
certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Telehealth Modernization Act''.
SEC. 2. EXTENDING MEDICARE TELEHEALTH FLEXIBILITIES.
(a) Expanding Access to Telehealth Services.--
(1) In general.--Section 1834(m)(4)(C)(iii) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)(C)(iii)) is amended by
striking ``In the case that'' and all that follows through
``ending on December 31, 2024,'' and inserting ``Beginning on
the date of the enactment of the Telehealth Modernization
Act,''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 1834(m) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii), by striking ``In the
case that'' and all that follows through ``ending
December 31, 2024,'' and inserting ``With respect to
telehealth services furnished on or after the date of
the enactment of the Telehealth Modernization Act,'';
(B) in paragraph (4)(C)(ii)(X), by striking ``, but
only for purposes of section 1881(b)(3)(B) or
telehealth services described in paragraph (7)'';
(C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``and prior to
the date of the enactment of the Telehealth
Modernization Act,'' after ``January 1, 2019,'';
(D) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ``and prior
to the date of the enactment of the Telehealth
Modernization Act,'' after ``January 1, 2019,''; and
(E) in paragraph (7), by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(C) Sunset.--The provisions of this paragraph
shall not apply with respect to services furnished on
or after the date of the enactment of this
subparagraph.''.
(b) Expanding Practitioners Eligible To Furnish Telehealth
Services.--Section 1834(m)(4)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395m(m)(4)(E)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``practitioner.--The term'' and inserting
``Practitioner.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
term'';
(2) in subparagraph (A), as so inserted, by striking ``, in
the case that the emergency period described in section
1135(g)(1)(B) ends before December 31, 2024, for the period
beginning on the first day after the end of such emergency
period and ending on December 31, 2024,''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) Expansion.--The Secretary, after consulting
with stakeholders regarding services that are
clinically appropriate, may expand the types of
practitioners who may furnish telehealth services to
include any health care professional that is eligible
to bill the program under this title for their
professional services.''.
(c) Retention of Additional Services and Subregulatory Process for
Modifications Following Emergency Period.--Section 1834(m)(4)(F) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)(F)) is amended--
(1) in clause (i), by inserting ``and clause (iii)'' after
``paragraph (8)'';
(2) in clause (ii), by striking ``The Secretary'' and
inserting ``Subject to clause (iii), the Secretary''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(iii) Retention of additional services
and subregulatory process for modifications
following emergency period.--With respect to
telehealth services furnished on or after the
date of the enactment of this clause, the
Secretary may--
``(I) retain as appropriate the
expanded list of telehealth services
specified in clause (i) pursuant to the
waiver authority under section
1135(b)(8) during the emergency period
described in section 1135(g)(1)(B); and
``(II) retain the subregulatory
process used to modify the services
included on the list of such telehealth
services pursuant to clause (ii) during
such emergency period.''.
(d) Enhancing Telehealth Services for Federally Qualified Health
Centers and Rural Health Clinics.--Section 1834(m)(8) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(8)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking
``and, in the case'' and all that follows through
``2024--'' and inserting ``and after such period--'';
and
(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ``or (C), as
applicable'' after ``subparagraph (B)''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in the header, by inserting ``before 2025''
after ``rule''; and
(B) in clause (i), by striking ``during the periods
for which subparagraph (A) applies'' and inserting
``before January 1, 2025''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Payment rule for 2025 and subsequent years.--
``(i) In general.--A telehealth service
furnished to an eligible telehealth individual
by a Federally qualified health center or rural
health clinic on or after January 1, 2025,
shall be deemed to be so furnished to such
individual as an outpatient of such center or
clinic (as applicable) for purposes of
paragraphs (1) and (3), respectively, of
section 1861(aa), and payable as a Federally
qualified health center service or rural health
clinic service (as applicable) under the
prospective payment system established under
section 1834(o) or the payment methodology
established under section 1833(a)(3),
respectively.
``(ii) Treatment of costs.--Costs
associated with the delivery of telehealth
services by a Federally qualified health center
or rural health clinic on or after January 1,
2025, shall be considered allowable costs for
purposes of the prospective payment system
established under section 1834(o) and any
payment methodologies developed under section
1833(a)(3), as applicable.''.
(e) Use of Telehealth, as Clinically Appropriate, To Conduct Face-
to-Face Encounter for Hospice Care.--Section 1814(a)(7)(D)(i)(II) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395f(a)(7)(D)(i)(II)) is amended by
striking ``, and, in the case'' and all that follows through ``ending
on December 31, 2024,'' and inserting ``and after such period, as
clinically appropriate,''.
(f) Use of Telehealth, as Clinically Appropriate, To Conduct Face-
to-Face Clinical Assessments for Home Dialysis.--Clause (iii) of
section 1881(b)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395rr(b)(3)(B)) is amended--
(1) by moving such clause 4 ems to the left; and
(2) by inserting ``and after such emergency period as
clinically appropriate'' before the period.
(g) Allowing for the Use of Audio-Only Telecommunications
Technology.--Section 1834(m)(9) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395m(m)(9)) is amended--
(1) by striking the first sentence and inserting the
following: ``The Secretary shall provide coverage and payment
under this part for telehealth services identified in paragraph
(4)(F)(i) as of the date of the enactment of this paragraph
that are furnished via an audio-only communications system.'';
and
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ``during such
emergency period'' and inserting ``during the emergency period
described in section 1135(g)(1)(B)''.
(h) Implementation.--Notwithstanding any provision of law, the
Secretary may implement the provisions of, and amendments made by, this
section by interim final rule, program instruction, or otherwise.
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