II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 340 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase the use of 

telehealth for substance use disorder treatment and mental health services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase 

the use of telehealth for substance use disorder treatment 

and mental health services, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Telehealth Response 

5 for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services Act’’ or 

6 ‘‘TREATS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TELEHEALTH FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 

2 TREATMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH SERV3 ICES. 

4 (a) SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES AND MEN5 TAL HEALTH SERVICES FURNISHED THROUGH TELE6 HEALTH UNDER MEDICARE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1834(m)(7)(A) of 

8 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)(7)(A)) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘With respect to telehealth services described in the 

11 preceding sentence that are furnished to an eligible 

12 telehealth individual with a substance use disorder 

13 diagnosis for purposes of treatment of such disorder 

14 or co-occurring mental health disorder on or after 

15 the date of the enactment of the Telehealth Re16 sponse for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services 

17 Act, or, subject to subparagraph (B), that are fur18 nished to an eligible telehealth individual for pur19 poses of diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a 

20 mental health disorder, on or after the first day 

21 after the end of the emergency period described in 

22 section 1135(g)(1)(B), nothing shall preclude the 

23 furnishing of such services through audio or tele24 phone only technologies in the case where a physi25 cian or practitioner has already conducted an in-per26 son medical evaluation or a telehealth evaluation 


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1 that utilizes both audio and visual capabilities with 

2 the eligible telehealth individual.’’. 

3 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of 

4 Health and Human Services may implement this 

5 subsection by program instruction or otherwise. 

6 (b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES DISPENSED BY

7 MEANS OF THE INTERNET.—Section 309(e)(2) of the 

8 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 829(e)(2)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘at least 1 in-person med12 ical evaluation’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘at 

13 least— 

14 ‘‘(I) 1 in-person medical evalua15 tion’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(II) for purposes of prescribing 

18 a controlled substance in schedule III 

19 or IV, 1 telehealth evaluation; or’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(D)(i) The term ‘telehealth evaluation’ 

23 means a medical evaluation that is conducted in 

24 accordance with applicable Federal and State 

25 laws by a practitioner (other than a pharVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S340.IS S340

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1 macist) who is at a location remote from the 

2 patient and is communicating with the patient 

3 using a telecommunications system referred to 

4 in section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) that includes, at a min6 imum, audio and video equipment permitting 

7 two-way, real-time interactive communication 

8 between the patient and distant site practi9 tioner. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in clause (i) shall be con11 strued to imply that 1 telehealth evaluation 

12 demonstrates that a prescription has been 

13 issued for a legitimate medical purpose within 

14 the usual course of professional practice. 

15 ‘‘(iii) A practitioner who prescribes the 

16 drugs or combination of drugs that are covered 

17 under section 303(g)(2)(C) using the authority 

18 under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) of this para19 graph shall adhere to nationally recognized evi20 dence-based guidelines for the treatment of pa21 tients with opioid use disorders and a diversion 

22 control plan, as those terms are defined in sec23 tion 8.2 of title 42, Code of Federal RegulaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S340.IS S340

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1 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of 

2 this subparagraph.’’. 

Æ 


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