I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3081 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 15, 2015 
Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. 
MARCHANT, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. KELLY of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. HOLD-
ING, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, and Mr. BOUSTANY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 
addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 con-
cerned 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘TELEmedicine for 
MEDicare Act of 2015’’ or as the ‘‘TELE–MED Act of 
2015’’. 
SEC. 2. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS LI-
CENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELEMEDI-
CINE 
SERVICES 
TO 
CERTAIN 
MEDICARE 
BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 
Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1899B. PERMITTING CERTAIN MEDICARE PROVIDERS 
LICENSED IN A STATE TO PROVIDE TELE-
MEDICINE SERVICES TO CERTAIN MEDICARE 
BENEFICIARIES IN A DIFFERENT STATE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a Medicare par-
ticipating physician or practitioner who is licensed or oth-
erwise legally authorized to provide a health care service 
in a State, such physician or practitioner may provide such 
a service as a telemedicine service to a Medicare bene-
ficiary who is in a different State, and any requirement 
that such physician or practitioner obtain a comparable 
license or other comparable legal authorization from such 
different State with respect to the provision of such health 
care service by such physician or practitioner to such bene-
ficiary shall not apply. 
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‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.—With respect to the provision 
of a service pursuant to this section, the licensing or au-
thorizing State has jurisdiction to enforce the licensure or 
other legal authorization requirements of such primary 
State, including through disciplinary actions used by such 
State as of the day before the date of the enactment of 
this section. 
‘‘(c) PROCESS TO ESTABLISH TELEMEDICINE SERV-
ICE DEFINITION.—Not later than 9 months after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 
guidance to the States for developing a definition of the 
term ‘telemedicine services’ for purposes of applying this 
section. For purposes of issuing such guidance, the Sec-
retary shall solicit input from relevant stakeholders, in-
cluding patients, health care providers, State government 
officials, health technology developers, insurers, employ-
ers, licensing boards, community health organizations, and 
other Federal agencies. 
‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the plans to develop and 
expand the use of current and emerging Internet and com-
munications technologies to expand access of Medicare 
beneficiaries to health programs. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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‘‘(1) 
MEDICARE
BENEFICIARY.—The 
term 
‘Medicare beneficiary’ means an individual entitled 
to benefits under part A or enrolled under part B. 
‘‘(2) 
QUALIFYING
PHYSICIAN
OR
PRACTI-
TIONER.—The term ‘Medicare participating physi-
cian or practitioner’ means the following: 
‘‘(A) A physician (as defined in section 
1861(r)) who is a participating physician or 
supplier (as defined in section 1842(h)(1)). 
‘‘(B) A practitioner (as defined in section 
1842(b)(18)(C)) who is a participating physi-
cian 
or 
supplier 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
1842(h)(1)). 
‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may be 
construed to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obliga-
tion of a covered health care professional under the Con-
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).’’. 
Æ 
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