I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2508 

To provide for a pilot program to include respiratory therapists as telehealth 

practitioners under the Medicare program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. COX of California, Mr. CARTER

of Georgia, and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; 

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

addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 provide for a pilot program to include respiratory therapists as telehealth practitioners under the Medicare program. 

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 ‘‘Better Respiration 

5 through Expanding Access to Tele-Health Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘BREATHE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR INCLUDING RESPIRATORY 

2 THERAPISTS AS TELEHEALTH PRACTI3 TIONERS UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 6 

5 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

6 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish 

7 a 3-year pilot program under title XVIII of the Social Se8 curity Act with respect to furnishing telehealth disease 

9 management services to eligible telehealth individuals who 

10 are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 

11 for purposes of determining the value of including quali12 fying respiratory therapists as telehealth practitioners 

13 under the Medicare program to improve health outcomes 

14 for, reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and 

15 hospital admissions and readmissions of, and lower the 

16 cost of care provided to such individuals. 

17 (b) TELEHEALTH ACCESS.—Under the pilot pro18 gram, coverage shall be provided under title XVIII of the 

19 Social Security Act for telehealth disease management 

20 services furnished to eligible telehealth individuals who are 

21 diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by 

22 applying section 1834(m) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 1395m(m)), as if— 

24 (1) the reference in paragraph (1) of such sec25 tion to ‘‘a practitioner (as described in section 


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1 1842(b)(18)(C))’’ were a reference to ‘‘a practitioner 

2 (as defined in paragraph (4)(E))’’; 

3 (2) paragraph (2)(B) of such section does not 

4 apply to any site that satisfies the definition of the 

5 term ‘‘originating site’’ applied pursuant to para6 graph (3) and that would not otherwise be included 

7 as an originating site without application of such 

8 paragraph; 

9 (3) the definition under paragraph (4)(C) of 

10 such section for the term ‘‘originating site’’ included 

11 as a site described in clause (ii) of such paragraph 

12 the place of residence of such individual, regardless 

13 of whether such place of residence satisfies the con14 ditions described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of 

15 clause (i) of such paragraph; 

16 (4) the definition in paragraph (4)(E) of such 

17 section for the term ‘‘practitioner’’ included quali18 fying respiratory therapists; and 

19 (5) the definition in paragraph (4)(F) of such 

20 section for ‘‘telehealth services’’ included the fol21 lowing HCPCS codes 98960, 94664, 99406, 99407, 

22 and 99091. 

23 (c) PAYMENT MODIFIER.—For purposes of the pilot 

24 program, the Secretary shall establish a payment modifier 

25 to ensure the collection of data relevant to telehealth disVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 May 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2508.IH H2508

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1 ease management services furnished directly by a quali2 fying respiratory therapist to eligible telehealth individuals 

3 who are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary dis4 ease. 

5 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the last 

6 date of the pilot program, the Secretary of Health and 

7 Human Services shall submit to Congress a report on the 

8 findings of the program, including if acute care interven9 tions were reduced and the health status of eligible tele10 health individuals who are diagnosed with chronic obstruc11 tive pulmonary disease was improved based on the lower 

12 utilization of services. 

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

14 (1) The term ‘‘eligible telehealth individual’’ has 

15 the meaning given such term in section 1834(m)(4) 

16 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(4)). 

17 (2) The term ‘‘qualifying respiratory therapist’’ 

18 means a respiratory therapist who— 

19 (A) is credentialed by a national 

20 credentialing board recognized by the Secretary 

21 of Health and Human Services; 

22 (B) if applicable, is licensed in the State in 

23 which the therapist furnishes the services in24 volved; 


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1 (C) holds the credential of Registered Res2 piratory Therapist; and 

3 (D) has a minimum of a bachelor’s degree 

4 or other advanced degree in biological or health 

5 science. 

6 (3) The term ‘‘telehealth disease management 

7 services’’ means any of the following disease man8 agement services furnished via a telecommunications 

9 system by a qualifying respiratory therapist: 

10 (A) Self-management education and train11 ing. 

12 (B) Demonstration and evaluation of in13 haler techniques. 

14 (C) Smoking cessation counseling. 

15 (D) Remote patient monitoring. 

Æ 


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