II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1778 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2015 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself and Mrs. ERNST) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 MEDicare Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘TELE-MED Act of 

6 2015’’. 


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•S 1778 IS

1 SEC. 2. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS LI2 CENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELEMEDI3 CINE SERVICES TO CERTAIN MEDICARE 

4 BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 

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

6 1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1899C. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS 

9 LICENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELE10 MEDICINE SERVICES TO CERTAIN MEDICARE 

11 BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a Medicare par13 ticipating physician or practitioner who is licensed or oth14 erwise legally authorized to provide a health care service 

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

16 a service as a telemedicine service to a Medicare bene17 ficiary who is in a different State, and any requirement 

18 that such physician or practitioner obtain a comparable 

19 license or other comparable legal authorization from such 

20 different State with respect to the provision of such health 

21 care service by such physician or practitioner to such bene22 ficiary shall not apply. 

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

24 of a service pursuant to this section, the licensing or au25 thorizing State has jurisdiction to enforce the licensure or 

26 other legal authorization requirements of such primary 


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1 State, including through disciplinary actions used by such 

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

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) PROCESS TO ESTABLISH TELEMEDICINE SERV5 ICE DEFINITION.—Not later than 12 months after the 

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

7 issue guidance to the States for developing a definition 

8 of the term ‘telemedicine services’ for purposes of applying 

9 this section. For purposes of issuing such guidance, the 

10 Secretary shall solicit input from relevant stakeholders, in11 cluding patients, health care providers, State government 

12 officials, health technology developers, insurers, employ13 ers, licensing boards, community health organizations, and 

14 other Federal agencies. 

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

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

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

18 expand the use of current and emerging Internet and com19 munications technologies to expand access of Medicare 

20 beneficiaries to health programs. 

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

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

23 ‘Medicare beneficiary’ means an individual entitled 

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


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1 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING PHYSICIAN OR PRACTI2 TIONER.—The term ‘Medicare participating physi3 cian or practitioner’ means the following: 

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

5 1861(r)) who is a participating physician or 

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

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

8 1842(b)(18)(C)) who is a participating physi9 cian or supplier (as defined in section 

10 1842(h)(1)). 

11 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO CONTROLLED

12 SUBSTANCES ACT.—Nothing in this section may be con13 strued to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obligation 

14 of a covered health care professional under the Controlled 

15 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(g) NO EFFECT ON STATE MALPRACTICE LAWS OR

17 JURISDICTION TO HEAR CIVIL CLAIMS.—Nothing in this 

18 section may be construed to— 

19 ‘‘(1) replace or supersede any State law regard20 ing negligence or medical malpractice; or 

21 ‘‘(2) divest any court of its jurisdiction to hear 

22 civil claims arising from a physician’s provision of 

23 telemedicine services.’’. 

Æ 


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