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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 426

To establish a National Commission on Telemedicine.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1995

Mr. COMBEST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To establish a National Commission on Telemedicine.

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 ‘‘National Commission

5 on Telemedicine Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

7 There is established a commission to be known as the

8 National Commission on Telemedicine (in this Act re9 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

10 SEC. 3. DUTIES.

11 The Commission shall carry out the following duties:
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1 (1) Conduct a complete assessment of the use

2 of existing and emerging wired and wireless tele3 communications and information systems tech4 nologies:

5 (A) in the provision of health care and in

6 the performance of health research—

7 (i) to transmit, compress, and archive

8 data; and

9 (ii) to perform examinations and pro10 cedures, and to conduct consultations, re11 lating to the diagnosis and treatment of ill12 nesses, injuries, and other physical and

13 mental conditions;

14 (B) in the training of students of health

15 professions and the continuing education of

16 practicing health care providers; and

17 (C) in the monitoring of medical conditions

18 by individuals at home.

19 (2) Assess whether such technologies are effec20 tive in improving the quality and accessibility of

21 health care and reducing the costs of such care.

22 (3) Identify obstacles that may impede such

23 technologies from being widely used and accepted by

24 health care providers.
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1 (4) Develop a model definition of the term

2 ‘‘telemedicine’’ that may be used by health care pro3 viders, persons that provide payment for health care

4 services, and other participants in the health care

5 system.

6 (5) Establish terms for appropriate reimburse7 ment for such ‘‘telemedicine’’ services by public

8 agencies that, and private persons who, provide pay9 ments for health care services.

10 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

11 (a) SIZE AND COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall

12 be composed of 37 members appointed in accordance with

13 subsection (b) from individuals who are not officers or em14 ployees of any government. The membership shall include

15 the following:

16 (1) A physician specializing in emergency medi17 cine.

18 (2) A representative of the insurance industry

19 who is experienced in reimbursement issues.

20 (3) A representative of the wireless communica21 tion and data transfer industry.

22 (4) A representative of the wire and fiber-optic

23 communication and data transfer industry.

24 (5) A biomedical engineer.
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1 (6) A representative of the computer technology

2 and data compression industry.

3 (7) Three members of the emergency medical

4 technician, trauma nursing, and physician assistant

5 professions (one member from each such profession).

6 (8) A physician whose practice consists exclu7 sively of providing consultations.

8 (9) A medical school educator.

9 (10) A health care provider who practices in a

10 correctional facility.

11 (11) A rural health care provider.

12 (12) A health care lawyer.

13 (13) A health care administrator.

14 (14) A public health educator.

15 (15) A small businessman involved in the de16 sign, manufacture, or sale of telecommunications or

17 information systems hardware used in the provision

18 of health care.

19 (b) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than the expiration of

20 the 60-day period beginning on the date of the enactment

21 of this Act, the President, the Speaker of the House of

22 Representatives, and the majority leader of the Senate

23 shall each submit to the Secretary of Commerce a list of

24 individuals recommended for appointment to the Commis25 sion. Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period
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1 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, such

2 Secretary shall appoint the members of the Commission

3 after consulting with the individuals who have submitted

4 the lists. The Commission shall be composed of at least

5 12 individuals recommended by the President, at least 12

6 individuals recommended by the Speaker of the House of

7 Representatives, and at least 12 individuals recommended

8 by the majority leader of the Senate.

9 (c) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the

10 life of the Commission.

11 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall

12 be filled by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation

13 with the President, the Speaker of the House of Rep14 resentatives, and the majority leader of the Senate.

15 (e) COMPENSATION.—

16 (1) RATES OF PAY.—Members of the Commis17 sion shall be paid at a rate fixed by the Secretary

18 of Commerce not to exceed the maximum rate of

19 basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General Sched20 ule. A member of the Commission who is detailed by

21 a private person to serve on the Commission and

22 who continues to receive the member’s usual salary

23 and benefits from such person while serving on the

24 Commission shall serve without pay.
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1 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

2 Commission shall receive travel expenses, including

3 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with

4 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States

5 Code.

6 (f) QUORUM.—19 members of the Commission shall

7 constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hear8 ings, take testimony, or receive evidence.

9 (g) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Commis10 sion shall be designated by the Secretary of Commerce at

11 the time of appointment.

12 (h) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the

13 call of the chairperson of the Commission or a majority

14 of its members.

15 SEC. 5. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

16 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a direc17 tor appointed by the Commission and paid at a rate fixed

18 by the Secretary of Commerce not to exceed the maximum

19 rate of basic pay payable for GS–13 of the General Sched20 ule.

21 (b) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint additional

22 personnel as it considers appropriate. Pay for such person23 nel shall be fixed by the Secretary of Commerce at rates

24 that do not exceed the maximum rate of basic pay payable

25 for GS–11 of the General Schedule.
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1 (c) EXCEPTION.—A member of the staff of the Com2 mission who is detailed by a public or private person to

3 assist the Commission and who continues to receive the

4 member’s usual salary and benefits from such person

5 while assisting the Commission shall not receive pay under

6 subsection (a) or (b).

7 (d) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

8 LAWS.—The director and staff of the Commission may be

9 appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, Unit10 ed States Code, governing appointments in the competitive

11 service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions

12 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that

13 title relating to classification and General Schedule pay

14 rates, except as provided in subsections (a) and (b).

15 (e) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request

16 of the Commission, the head of any Federal agency may

17 detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel

18 of the agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying

19 out its duties under this Act.

20 (f) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission

21 may procure temporary and intermittent services under

22 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates

23 for individuals fixed by the Secretary of Commerce not

24 to exceed the daily equivalent of the minimum annual rate

25 of basic pay payable for GS–13 of the General Schedule.
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1 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Sec2 retary of Commerce, acting through the National Tele3 communications and Information Administration, shall

4 provide to the Commission on a nonreimbursable basis

5 such administrative support services as are necessary for

6 the Commission to carry out its responsibilities under this

7 Act.

8 SEC. 6. POWERS.

9 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission

10 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear11 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and

12 receive evidence as the Commission considers appropriate.

13 The Commission may administer oaths or affirmations to

14 witnesses appearing before it.

15 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Commission shall so16 licit and consider public comments in the performance of

17 the duties of the Commission.

18 (c) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Any member or

19 agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Com20 mission, take any action that the Commission is author21 ized to take by this section.

22 (d) INFORMATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure

24 directly from any Federal agency information nec25 essary to enable it to carry out this Act. Upon re-
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1 quest of the Commission, the head of the Federal

2 agency shall furnish the information to the Commis3 sion.

4 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

5 apply to any information that the Commission is

6 prohibited to secure or request by another law.

7 (e) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

8 States mails in the same manner and under the same con9 ditions as other Federal agencies.

10 (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Commission may

11 contract with and compensate government and private

12 agencies or persons for supplies or services without regard

13 to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).

14 SEC. 7. REPORT.

15 (a) SUBMISSION.—Not later than the expiration of

16 the 1-year period beginning on the date of the appoint17 ment of the last member of the Commission to be ap18 pointed under section 4, the Commission shall submit to

19 the President and the Congress a report containing the

20 findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Com21 mission.

22 (b) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.—Not later than the ex23 piration of the 30-day period beginning on the date of the

24 submission of the report under subsection (a), the Sec25 retary of Commerce, acting through the National Tele-
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1 communications and Information Administration, shall

2 make copies of the report available to the public.

3 (c) PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSE.—Not later than the

4 expiration of the 120-day period beginning on the date of

5 the submission of the report under subsection (a), the

6 President shall submit to the Congress a response to the

7 recommendations of the Commission, including, if the

8 President determines it to be appropriate, a plan for im9 plementing 1 or more of such recommendations.

10 SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

11 The Commission shall terminate not later than the

12 expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date on

13 which the Commission submits its report under section 7.

14 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 There are authorized to be appropriated, from

16 amounts otherwise appropriated for the National Tele17 communications and Information Administration of the

18 Department of Commerce, such sums as may be necessary

19 to carry out this Act.

20 SEC. 10. BUDGET COMPLIANCE.

21 Any spending authority (as defined in subparagraphs

22 (A) and (C) of section 401(c)(2) of the Congressional

23 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651(c)(2)(A))) authorized
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1 by this title shall be effective only to such extent or in

2 such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.

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