I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7879 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant program 

to expand and improve the provision of telehealth services to veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mrs. LEE of Nevada (for herself, Mr. BANKS, Mr. STEIL, and Ms. TORRES

SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 

grant program to expand and improve the provision of 

telehealth services to veterans. 

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 ‘‘VA Telehealth Expan5 sion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO EXPAND TELEHEALTH FROM 

7 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

9 shall enter into partnerships, and expand existing partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7879.IH H7879

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1 ships, with entities that represent or serve veterans, non2 profit organizations, private businesses, and other inter3 ested parties for the expansion of telehealth capabilities 

4 and the provision of telehealth services to veterans 

5 through the award of grants under subsection (c). Such 

6 telehealth services shall be provided by health care pro7 viders of the Department of Veterans Affairs or through 

8 the Veterans Community Care Program under section 

9 1703 of title 38, United States Code. 

10 (b) PREFERENCE.—When selecting entities with 

11 which to enter into or to expand a partnership under sub12 section (a), the Secretary shall give preference to entities 

13 that— 

14 (1) represent veterans in rural or highly rural 

15 areas (as determined through the use of the Rural16 Urban Commuting Areas coding system of the De17 partment of Agriculture); or 

18 (2) operate in a medically underserved commu19 nity (as defined in section 799B of the Public 

20 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)). 

21 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out partnerships 

23 entered into or expanded under this section with en24 tities described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

25 award grants to those entities. 


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1 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The 

2 amount of a grant awarded under this subsection 

3 may not exceed $75,000 in one year. 

4 (3) USE OF GRANTS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded to an 

6 entity under this subsection may be used for 

7 one or more of the following: 

8 (i) Purchasing or upgrading hardware 

9 or software necessary for the provision of 

10 secure and private telehealth services. 

11 (ii) Upgrading security protocols for 

12 consistency with the security requirements 

13 of the Department. 

14 (iii) Training of employees, including 

15 payment of those employees for completing 

16 that training, with respect to— 

17 (I) military and veteran cultural 

18 competence, if the entity is not an or19 ganization that represents veterans; 

20 (II) appropriate processes for 

21 handling emergencies that occur dur22 ing telehealth; 

23 (III) equipment required to pro24 vide telehealth services; or 


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1 (IV) any other unique training 

2 needs for the provision of telehealth 

3 services to veterans. 

4 (iv) Upgrading existing infrastructure 

5 owned or leased by the entity to make 

6 rooms more conducive to telehealth care, 

7 including— 

8 (I) additions or modifications to 

9 windows or walls in an existing room, 

10 or other alterations as needed to cre11 ate a new, private room; 

12 (II) soundproofing of an existing 

13 room; 

14 (III) new electrical or internet 

15 outlets in an existing room; or 

16 (IV) aesthetic or other enhance17 ments to establish a more suitable 

18 therapeutic environment. 

19 (v) Upgrading existing infrastructure 

20 to comply with the Americans with Disabil21 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 

22 seq.). 

23 (vi) Upgrading infrastructure or inter24 net services. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSION.—Grants may not be used 

2 for the purchase of new property or for major 

3 construction projects, as determined by the Sec4 retary. 

5 (d) AGREEMENT ON TELEHEALTH ACCESS

6 POINTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity described in sub8 section (a) that seeks to establish a telehealth access 

9 point for veterans but does not require grant fund10 ing under this section to do so may enter into an 

11 agreement with the Department for the establish12 ment of such an access point. 

13 (2) INSPECTION TO DETERMINE ADEQUACY OF

14 FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall inspect any such 

15 access point to determine whether the access point 

16 is private, secure, and accessible to veterans. 

17 (e) ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS TO ACCESS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary shall complete an assessment of barriers faced 

21 by veterans in accessing telehealth services. 

22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

23 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

24 (A) An assessment of current and potential 

25 future barriers, including— 


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1 (i) cost; 

2 (ii) access to broadband internet in3 frastructure and technology; 

4 (iii) digital competency; and 

5 (iv) discrimination (including cultural, 

6 language, or medical discrimination). 

7 (B) A description of how the Secretary 

8 plans to address the barriers described in sub9 paragraph (A). 

10 (C) Such other matters related access by 

11 veterans to telehealth while not on property of 

12 the Department the Secretary determines rel13 evant. 

14 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

15 the completion of the assessment required by para16 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

19 Representatives a report on the assessment, includ20 ing any recommendations for legislative or adminis21 trative action based on the results of the assessment. 

Æ 


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