II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Telehealth Moderniza5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENDING MEDICARE TELEHEALTH FLEXIBILI7 TIES. 

8 (a) EXPANDING ACCESS TO TELEHEALTH SERV9 ICES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1834(m)(4)(C)(iii) 

2 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 1395m(m)(4)(C)(iii)) is amended by striking ‘‘In the 

4 case that’’ and all that follows through ‘‘ending on 

5 December 31, 2024,’’ and inserting ‘‘Beginning on 

6 the date of the enactment of the Telehealth Mod7 ernization Act,’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

9 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1395m(m)) is amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii), by striking 

12 ‘‘In the case that’’ and all that follows through 

13 ‘‘ending December 31, 2024,’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘With respect to telehealth services furnished 

15 on or after the date of the enactment of the 

16 Telehealth Modernization Act,’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (4)(C)(ii)(X), by striking 

18 ‘‘, but only for purposes of section 

19 1881(b)(3)(B) or telehealth services described 

20 in paragraph (7)’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘and 

22 prior to the date of the enactment of the Tele23 health Modernization Act,’’ after ‘‘January 1, 

24 2019,’’; 


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1 (D) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

2 prior to the date of the enactment of the Tele3 health Modernization Act,’’ after ‘‘January 1, 

4 2019,’’; and 

5 (E) in paragraph (7), by adding at the end 

6 the following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(C) SUNSET.—The provisions of this 

8 paragraph shall not apply with respect to serv9 ices furnished on or after the date of the enact10 ment of this subparagraph.’’. 

11 (b) EXPANDING PRACTITIONERS ELIGIBLE TO FUR12 NISH TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—Section 1834(m)(4)(E) 

13 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)(E)) 

14 is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘PRACTITIONER.—The term’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘PRACTITIONER.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara18 graph (B), the term’’; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (A), as so inserted, by 

20 striking ‘‘, in the case that the emergency period de21 scribed in section 1135(g)(1)(B) ends before Decem22 ber 31, 2024, for the period beginning on the first 

23 day after the end of such emergency period and end24 ing on December 31, 2024,’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(B) EXPANSION.—The Secretary, after 

4 consulting with stakeholders regarding services 

5 that are clinically appropriate, may expand the 

6 types of practitioners who may furnish tele7 health services to include any health care pro8 fessional that is eligible to bill the program 

9 under this title for their professional services.’’. 

10 (c) RETENTION OF ADDITIONAL SERVICES AND SUB11 REGULATORY PROCESS FOR MODIFICATIONS FOLLOWING

12 EMERGENCY PERIOD.—Section 1834(m)(4)(F) of the So13 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)(F)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and clause (iii)’’ 

16 after ‘‘paragraph (8)’’; 

17 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘Subject to clause (iii), the Sec19 retary’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

21 clause: 

22 ‘‘(iii) RETENTION OF ADDITIONAL

23 SERVICES AND SUBREGULATORY PROCESS

24 FOR MODIFICATIONS FOLLOWING EMER25 GENCY PERIOD.—With respect to teleVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Apr 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3967.IS S3967

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1 health services furnished on or after the 

2 date of the enactment of this clause, the 

3 Secretary may— 

4 ‘‘(I) retain as appropriate the ex5 panded list of telehealth services spec6 ified in clause (i) pursuant to the 

7 waiver authority under section 

8 1135(b)(8) during the emergency pe9 riod described in section 

10 1135(g)(1)(B); and 

11 ‘‘(II) retain the subregulatory 

12 process used to modify the services in13 cluded on the list of such telehealth 

14 services pursuant to clause (ii) during 

15 such emergency period.’’. 

16 (d) ENHANCING TELEHEALTH SERVICES FOR FED17 ERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTERS AND RURAL

18 HEALTH CLINICS.—Section 1834(m)(8) of the Social Se19 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(8)) is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

21 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

22 striking ‘‘and, in the case’’ and all that follows 

23 through ‘‘2024—’’ and inserting ‘‘and after 

24 such period—’’; and 


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1 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or (C), as 

2 applicable’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

3 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

4 (A) in the header, by inserting ‘‘BEFORE

5 2025’’ after ‘‘RULE’’; and 

6 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘during the 

7 periods for which subparagraph (A) applies’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘before January 1, 2025’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT RULE FOR 2025 AND SUB12 SEQUENT YEARS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A telehealth serv14 ice furnished to an eligible telehealth indi15 vidual by a Federally qualified health cen16 ter or rural health clinic on or after Janu17 ary 1, 2025, shall be deemed to be so fur18 nished to such individual as an outpatient 

19 of such center or clinic (as applicable) for 

20 purposes of paragraphs (1) and (3), re21 spectively, of section 1861(aa), and pay22 able as a Federally qualified health center 

23 service or rural health clinic service (as ap24 plicable) under the prospective payment 

25 system established under section 1834(o) 


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1 or the payment methodology established 

2 under section 1833(a)(3), respectively. 

3 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF COSTS.—Costs 

4 associated with the delivery of telehealth 

5 services by a Federally qualified health 

6 center or rural health clinic on or after 

7 January 1, 2025, shall be considered allow8 able costs for purposes of the prospective 

9 payment system established under section 

10 1834(o) and any payment methodologies 

11 developed under section 1833(a)(3), as ap12 plicable.’’. 

13 (e) USE OF TELEHEALTH, AS CLINICALLY APPRO14 PRIATE, TO CONDUCT FACE-TO-FACE ENCOUNTER FOR

15 HOSPICE CARE.—Section 1814(a)(7)(D)(i)(II) of the So16 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395f(a)(7)(D)(i)(II)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘, and, in the case’’ and all that fol18 lows through ‘‘ending on December 31, 2024,’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘and after such period, as clinically appropriate,’’. 

20 (f) USE OF TELEHEALTH, AS CLINICALLY APPRO21 PRIATE, TO CONDUCT FACE-TO-FACE CLINICAL ASSESS22 MENTS FOR HOME DIALYSIS.—Clause (iii) of section 

23 1881(b)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 1395rr(b)(3)(B)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by moving such clause 4 ems to the left; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘and after such emergency pe4 riod as clinically appropriate’’ before the period. 

5 (g) ALLOWING FOR THE USE OF AUDIO-ONLY TELE6 COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.—Section 1834(m)(9) of 

7 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(9)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

10 the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall provide coverage 

11 and payment under this part for telehealth services 

12 identified in paragraph (4)(F)(i) as of the date of 

13 the enactment of this paragraph that are furnished 

14 via an audio-only communications system.’’; and 

15 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘during 

16 such emergency period’’ and inserting ‘‘during the 

17 emergency period described in section 

18 1135(g)(1)(B)’’. 

19 (h) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwithstanding any provi20 sion of law, the Secretary may implement the provisions 

21 of, and amendments made by, this section by interim final 

22 rule, program instruction, or otherwise. 

Æ 


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