I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3081 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to permit certain Medicare 

providers licensed in a State to provide telemedicine services to certain 

Medicare beneficiaries in a different State. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2015 

Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. 

MARCHANT, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, and Mr. BOUSTANY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 

addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to permit 

certain Medicare providers licensed in a State to provide 

telemedicine services to certain Medicare beneficiaries in 

a different State. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘TELEmedicine for 

3 MEDicare Act of 2015’’ or as the ‘‘TELE–MED Act of 

4 2015’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS LI6 CENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELEMEDI7 CINE SERVICES TO CERTAIN MEDICARE 

8 BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 

9 Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 1899B. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS 

13 LICENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELE14 MEDICINE SERVICES TO CERTAIN MEDICARE 

15 BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a Medicare par17 ticipating physician or practitioner who is licensed or oth18 erwise legally authorized to provide a health care service 

19 in a State, such physician or practitioner may provide such 

20 a service as a telemedicine service to a Medicare bene21 ficiary who is in a different State, and any requirement 

22 that such physician or practitioner obtain a comparable 

23 license or other comparable legal authorization from such 

24 different State with respect to the provision of such health 

25 care service by such physician or practitioner to such bene26 ficiary shall not apply. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.—With respect to the provision 

2 of a service pursuant to this section, the licensing or au3 thorizing State has jurisdiction to enforce the licensure or 

4 other legal authorization requirements of such primary 

5 State, including through disciplinary actions used by such 

6 State as of the day before the date of the enactment of 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘(c) PROCESS TO ESTABLISH TELEMEDICINE SERV9 ICE DEFINITION.—Not later than 9 months after the date 

10 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 

11 guidance to the States for developing a definition of the 

12 term ‘telemedicine services’ for purposes of applying this 

13 section. For purposes of issuing such guidance, the Sec14 retary shall solicit input from relevant stakeholders, in15 cluding patients, health care providers, State government 

16 officials, health technology developers, insurers, employ17 ers, licensing boards, community health organizations, and 

18 other Federal agencies. 

19 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

20 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

21 submit to Congress a report on the plans to develop and 

22 expand the use of current and emerging Internet and com23 munications technologies to expand access of Medicare 

24 beneficiaries to health programs. 

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) MEDICARE BENEFICIARY.—The term 

2 ‘Medicare beneficiary’ means an individual entitled 

3 to benefits under part A or enrolled under part B. 

4 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING PHYSICIAN OR PRACTI5 TIONER.—The term ‘Medicare participating physi6 cian or practitioner’ means the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) A physician (as defined in section 

8 1861(r)) who is a participating physician or 

9 supplier (as defined in section 1842(h)(1)). 

10 ‘‘(B) A practitioner (as defined in section 

11 1842(b)(18)(C)) who is a participating physi12 cian or supplier (as defined in section 

13 1842(h)(1)). 

14 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may be 

15 construed to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obliga16 tion of a covered health care professional under the Con17 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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