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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8278 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8278

   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend certain 
    telehealth flexibilities with respect to hospice care under the 
 Medicare program, and to establish a modifier for recertifications of 
         hospice care eligibility conducted through telehealth.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2024

 Mrs. Miller of West Virginia introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend certain 
    telehealth flexibilities with respect to hospice care under the 
 Medicare program, and to establish a modifier for recertifications of 
         hospice care eligibility conducted through telehealth.

    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 ``Hospice Recertification Flexibility 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN TELEHEALTH FLEXIBILITIES.

    Section 1814(a)(7)(D)(i)(II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395f(a)(7)(D)(i)(II)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``ending on December 31, 2024'' and 
        inserting ``ending on December 31, 2026''; and
            (2) by inserting ``, except that this subclause shall not 
        apply in the case of such an encounter with an individual 
        occurring on or after January 1, 2025, if such individual is 
        located in an area that is subject to a moratorium on the 
        enrollment of hospice programs under this title pursuant to 
        section 1866(j)(7), if such individual is receiving hospice 
        care from a provider that is subject to enhanced oversight 
        under this title pursuant to section 1866(j)(3), or if such 
        encounter is performed by a hospice physician or nurse 
        practitioner who is not enrolled under section 1866(j) and is 
        not an opt-out physician or practitioner (as defined in section 
        1802(b)(6)(D))'' before the semicolon.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF MODIFIER FOR RECERTIFICATIONS OF HOSPICE CARE 
              ELIGIBILITY CONDUCTED THROUGH TELEHEALTH.

    Section 1814(a)(7)(D)(i)(II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395f(a)(7)(D)(i)(II)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by 
inserting ``, provided that, in the case of such an encounter occurring 
on or after the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act, such physician or nurse 
practitioner includes in any claim for such encounter one or more 
modifiers or codes specified by the Secretary to indicate that such 
encounter was furnished through telehealth'' after ``as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary''.
                                 <all>
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