I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8060 

To require parity in the coverage of mental health and substance use disorder 

services provided to enrollees in private insurance plans, whether such 

services are provided in-person or through telehealth. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 14, 2020 

Mr. TRONE (for himself and Mr. RIGGLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and 

Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require parity in the coverage of mental health and substance use disorder services provided to enrollees in private insurance plans, whether such services are provided 

in-person or through telehealth. 

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 ‘‘Tele-Mental Health 

5 Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, the 

4 United States faced a mental health crisis. 

5 (2) This mental health crisis touches all age 

6 groups. Suicide rates among individuals ages 10 

7 through 24 increased by 56 percent from 2007 to 

8 2017. More than 25 percent of college students have 

9 been diagnosed or treated by a professional for a 

10 mental health condition within the past year. Nearly 

11 one in five adults in the United States live with a 

12 mental illness. Suicide rates for all ages increased 

13 from 1999 to 2016. 

14 (3) The COVID–19 pandemic has resulted in 

15 large-scale economic hardship and long periods of 

16 social isolation for Americans. 

17 (4) In non-crisis conditions, a 1-point increase 

18 in unemployment correlates to a 1.3 percent increase 

19 in suicide rates. In April 2020, the unemployment 

20 rate increased from 4.4 percent to 14.7 percent. 

21 (5) Exposure to large-scale trauma like the cur22 rent pandemic commonly results in negative emo23 tional states, acute stress, physical health com24 plaints, and poor sleep, particularly during the ini25 tial onset of the trauma. 


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1 (6) People who receive practical and social sup2 port and resources soon after the initial onset of a 

3 trauma tend to have better outcomes. 

4 (7) There is an increased need for mental 

5 health services to be provided through telehealth 

6 platforms due to the necessity for social distancing. 

7 SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF TELEHEALTH MENTAL HEALTH AND 

8 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the public health emer10 gency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human 

11 Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect 

13 to COVID–19, if a group health plan or group or indi14 vidual health insurance coverage provides coverage of a 

15 mental health or substance use disorder service provided 

16 in-person, the group health plan or health insurance issuer 

17 offering such group or individual health insurance cov18 erage— 

19 (1) shall provide coverage of the service pro20 vided through telehealth at the same rate as the cov21 erage for the same service provided in-person; 

22 (2) shall ensure that providers not charge en23 rollees facility fees; 

24 (3) may not impose additional barriers on ob25 taining such coverage for such services through teleVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8060.IH H8060

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1 health, compared to coverage for such services pro2 vided in-person, such as a prior authorization re3 quirements, a requirement that the enrollee have a 

4 pre-existing relationship with the provider, a require5 ment that a provider be present with the enrollee 

6 during the provision of services, or any other finan7 cial requirement, treatment limitation, or utilization 

8 control policy or procedure; 

9 (4) shall provide notice to enrollees, informing 

10 such enrollees of how to access in-network telehealth 

11 mental health and substance use disorder services 

12 and the scope of their coverage; and 

13 (5) shall work with providers to ensure that 

14 telehealth services are provided to enrollees in com15 pliance with, as applicable, the privacy regulations 

16 promulgated pursuant to section 264(c) of the 

17 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

18 of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2) or privacy guidelines 

19 promulgated and implemented by the Secretary of 

20 Health and Human Services during a public health 

21 emergency. 

22 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of subsection 

23 (a) shall be applied by the Secretary of Health and Human 

24 Services, Secretary of Labor, and Secretary of the Treas25 ury to group health plans and health insurance issuers ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8060.IH H8060

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1 fering group or individual health insurance coverage as if 

2 included in the provisions of part A of title XXVII of the 

3 Public Health Service Act, part 7 of the Employee Retire4 ment Income Security Act of 1974, and subchapter B of 

5 chapter 100 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as ap6 plicable. 

7 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services, Secretary of Labor, and Secretary of the 

9 Treasury may implement the provisions of this section 

10 through sub-regulatory guidance, program instruction, or 

11 otherwise. 

12 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 (1) the terms ‘‘group health plan’’, ‘‘health in14 surance issuer’’, and ‘‘health insurance coverage’’ 

15 have the meanings given such terms in section 2791 

16 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg– 

17 91), section 733 of the Employee Retirement Income 

18 Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b), and section 

19 9832 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as ap20 plicable; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘telehealth services’’ has the 

22 meaning given such term in section 330I(a) of the 

23 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c–14(a)), 

24 and includes 2-way video communication, audio-only 


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1 communication, and written information shared by 

2 phone or email. 

3 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall prevent the application of any State law that 

5 is not inconsistent with this section. 

6 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the conclusion of the public health emergency de8 scribed in subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services shall submit to the Committee on Health, 

10 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Com11 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep12 resentatives, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

13 of the House of Representatives on the impacts the re14 quirement under subsection (a) has on the use of both 

15 telehealth services and health services provided in-person. 

Æ 


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