II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4348 

To provide for the conduct of a GAO study and report on rural health 

access during the COVID–19 pandemic. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2020 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the conduct of a GAO study and report 

on rural health access during the COVID–19 pandemic. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Health Care 

5 Access Review Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON RURAL HEALTH AC7 CESS DURING THE COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 

8 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall conduct a study on access to health care in 

10 rural areas during the public health emergency described 


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1 in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)). Such study shall include the 

3 following: 

4 (1) To the extent data are available, an analysis 

5 of access, quality, patient and provider experience, 

6 and spending and utilization of telehealth services 

7 furnished during such public health emergency. Such 

8 evaluation shall be broken out by each of the fol9 lowing: 

10 (A) Individuals enrolled in the Medicare 

11 and Medicaid programs. 

12 (B) The provider type and medical spe13 cialty of the practitioner furnishing the tele14 health service. 

15 (C) The modality under which such tele16 health services were furnished— 

17 (i) using audio-only technology; and 

18 (ii) using audio-visual technology. 

19 (2) To the extent data are available, an analysis 

20 of how these flexibilities influenced private payer 

21 policies on telehealth. 

22 (3) To the extent data are available, an analysis 

23 of disparities in access to, and quality of, telehealth 

24 services during such public health emergency. 


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1 (4) To the extent data are available, an analysis 

2 of barriers to accessing and providing telehealth 

3 services covered by the Medicare or Medicaid pro4 grams, including those related to broadband infra5 structure. 

6 (5) An analysis of what is known about the pri7 vacy impacts of the waiver of Federal privacy regu8 lations during such public health emergency. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 24 months after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

11 shall submit a report to the Committee on Finance and 

12 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen13 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and 

14 Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

15 the House of Representatives containing the results of the 

16 study conducted under subsection (a). 

17 (c) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—In this section, 

18 the term ‘‘rural area’’ means an area classified as rural 

19 by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy of the Health 

20 Resources & Services Administration. 

Æ 


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