I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5541 

To provide temporary licensing reciprocity for telehealth and interstate health 

care treatment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Mr. LATTA (for himself and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide temporary licensing reciprocity for telehealth and 

interstate health care treatment. 

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 ‘‘Temporary Reciprocity 

5 to Ensure Access to Treatment Act’’ or the ‘‘TREAT 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) the term ‘‘health care professional’’ means 

10 an individual who— 


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1 (A) has a valid and unrestricted license or 

2 certification from, or is otherwise authorized by, 

3 a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory 

4 or possession of the United States, for any 

5 health profession, including mental health; and 

6 (B) is not affirmatively excluded from 

7 practice in the licensing or certifying jurisdic8 tion or in any other jurisdiction; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

10 of Health and Human Services; 

11 (3) the term ‘‘telehealth services’’ means use of 

12 telecommunications and information technology (in13 cluding synchronous or asynchronous audio-visual, 

14 audio-only, or store and forward technology) to pro15 vide access to mental health assessment, diagnosis, 

16 treatment, intervention, consultation, supervision, 

17 and information across distance; and 

18 (4) the terms ‘‘emergency area’’ and ‘‘emer19 gency period’’ have the meaning given such terms in 

20 section 1135(g) of the Social Security Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)). 

22 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION OF TELEHEALTH 

23 AND INTERSTATE TREATMENT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of Federal or State law or regulation regarding the 


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1 licensure or certification of health care providers or the 

2 provision of telehealth services, a health care professional 

3 may practice within the scope of the individual’s license, 

4 certification, or authorization described in section 3(1)(A), 

5 with respect to mental health services, through telehealth, 

6 in any emergency area during an emergency period, based 

7 on the licensure, certification, or authorization of such in8 dividual in any one State, the District of Columbia, or ter9 ritory or possession of the United States. 

10 (b) SCOPE OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—Telehealth 

11 services authorized by this section are mental health serv12 ices provided to any patient regardless of whether the 

13 health care professional has a prior treatment relationship 

14 with the patient, provided that, if the health care profes15 sional does not have a prior treatment relationship with 

16 the patient, a new relationship may be established only 

17 via a written acknowledgment or synchronous technology. 

18 (c) INITIATION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—Before 

19 providing telehealth services authorized by this section, the 

20 health care professional shall— 

21 (1) verify the identification of the patient re22 ceiving health services; 

23 (2) obtain oral or written acknowledgment from 

24 the patient (or legal representative of the patient) to 

25 perform telehealth services, and if such acknowledgVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Sep 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5541.IH H5541

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1 ment is oral, make a record of such acknowledg2 ment; and 

3 (3) obtain or confirm an alternative method of 

4 contacting the patient in case of a technological fail5 ure. 

6 (d) WRITTEN NOTICE OF PROVISION OF SERV7 ICES.—As soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days 

8 after first providing services pursuant to this section in 

9 a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction in which a health 

10 care professional is licensed, certified, or otherwise author11 ized, such health care professional shall provide written 

12 notice to the applicable licensing, certifying, or authorizing 

13 authority in the jurisdiction in which the health care pro14 fessional provided such services. Such notice shall include 

15 the health care professional’s— 

16 (1) name; 

17 (2) email address; 

18 (3) phone number; 

19 (4) State of primary license, certification, or 

20 authorization; and 

21 (5) license, certification, or authorization type, 

22 and applicable number or identifying information 

23 with respect to such license, certification, or author24 ization. 


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1 (e) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section author2 izes a health care professional to— 

3 (1) practice beyond the scope of practice au4 thorized by— 

5 (A) any State, District of Columbia, terri6 torial, or local authority in the jurisdiction in 

7 which the health care professional holds a li8 cense, certification, or authorization described 

9 in section 3(1)(A); or 

10 (B) any State, District of Columbia, terri11 torial, or local authority in the jurisdiction in 

12 which the patient receiving services is located; 

13 (2) provide any service or subset of services 

14 prohibited by any such authority in the jurisdiction 

15 in which the patient receiving services is located; 

16 (3) provide any service or subset of services in 

17 a manner prohibited by any such authority the juris18 diction in which the patient receiving services is lo19 cated; or 

20 (4) provide any service or subset of services in 

21 a manner other than the manner prescribed by any 

22 such authority in the jurisdiction in which the pa23 tient receiving services is located. 

24 (f) INVESTIGATIVE AND DISCIPLINARY AUTHOR25 ITY.—A health care professional providing services pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Sep 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5541.IH H5541

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1 ant to the authority under this section shall be subject 

2 to investigation and disciplinary action by the licensing, 

3 certifying, or authorizing authorities in the jurisdiction in 

4 which the patient receiving services is located. The juris5 diction in which the patient receiving services is located 

6 shall have the authority to preclude the health care pro7 vider from practicing further in its jurisdiction, whether 

8 such practice is authorized by the laws of such jurisdiction 

9 or the authority granted under this section, and shall re10 port any such preclusion to the licensing authority in the 

11 jurisdiction in which the health care provider is licensed, 

12 certified, or authorized. 

13 (g) MULTIPLE JURISDICTION LICENSURE.—Notwith14 standing any other provision of this section, a health care 

15 professional shall be subject to the requirements of the 

16 jurisdiction of licensure if the professional is licensed in 

17 the State, the District of Columbia, or territory or posses18 sion where the patient is located. 

19 (h) INTERSTATE LICENSURE COMPACTS.—If a 

20 health care professional is licensed in multiple jurisdic21 tions through an interstate licensure compact, with respect 

22 to services provided to a patient located in a jurisdiction 

23 covered by such compact, the health care professional shall 


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1 be subject to the requirements of the compact and not this 

2 section. 

Æ 


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