I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8283 
To provide temporary licensing reciprocity for telehealth and interstate health 
care treatment. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary Reciprocity 
to Ensure Access to Treatment Act’’ or the ‘‘TREAT 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) It is necessary to regulate, on a temporary 
and emergency basis, the provision of interstate 
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commerce as it pertains to treatment by medical 
professionals licensed in one State to patients in 
other States. 
(2) COVID–19, the disease caused by SARS– 
CoV–2, has created a national public health emer-
gency, as declared by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services under section 319 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 
31, 2020, and by the President under the National 
Emergencies Act on March 13, 2020. 
(3) The COVID–19 pandemic has resulted in 
closing many businesses and nonprofit organizations, 
including colleges and universities, and large areas 
of the country remain under full or partial stay-at- 
home orders, precluding the ability to seek routine 
or elective medical treatment and consultation. The 
closing of campus-based in-person learning at insti-
tutions of higher education has also meant that up 
to 1,000,000 students have returned to live with 
their families across State lines from where they 
may have been receiving medical care in the univer-
sity setting. Furthermore, in many rural areas, in- 
person medical treatment is inaccessible. Even in 
urban areas, the pandemic has severely disrupted ac-
cess to medical care, requiring medical professionals 
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licensed in one State to provide treatment to pa-
tients residing nearby but across a State line and 
unable to visit the medical professional’s office in 
the State of licensure. 
(4) It is vital that hospitals, temporary surge or 
field facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and nursing 
homes in areas with high caseloads of COVID–19 
patients be able to have access to qualified medical 
professionals, including such professionals licensed 
in other States, without the delays that would be re-
quired for individualized licensing during a time 
when State agencies’ capacity to review and process 
licensing requests are limited by the pandemic. 
(5) The provision of services by medical profes-
sionals, including services provided at no cost and 
services provided to patients in a State other than 
the State or States in which the medical professional 
maintains an office for professional services, affects 
interstate commerce. When used to provide services 
to patients located in a State other than the State 
in which the medical professional is located, tele-
health services, as defined in section 3, utilize facili-
ties of interstate commerce. 
(6) The inability of patients to visit in-State 
health care providers during the current crisis sub-
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stantially affects interstate commerce. Economic ac-
tivity has been limited by public health authorities 
and other government officials to ‘‘flatten the curve’’ 
of infections and hospitalizations and thereby pre-
vent the health care system from becoming over-
whelmed. Maximizing the efficient and effective use 
of health care resources is therefore vital to reopen-
ing the economy. 
(7) Barriers to the efficient delivery of health 
care services will lead to a shortage of those services 
that substantially affect health care availability 
across State lines. Shortages in health care services 
in one State prompt interstate travel to obtain 
health care in other States, even though discour-
aging such travel, particularly among the sick, is 
vital to containing the contagion and reopening the 
national economy. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) the term ‘‘health care professional’’ means 
an individual who— 
(A) has a valid and unrestricted license or 
certification from, or is otherwise authorized by, 
a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory 
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or possession of the United States, for any 
health profession, including mental health; and 
(B) is not affirmatively excluded from 
practice in the licensing or certifying jurisdic-
tion or in any other jurisdiction; 
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services; and 
(3) the term ‘‘telehealth services’’ means use of 
telecommunications and information technology (in-
cluding synchronous or asynchronous audio-visual, 
audio-only, or store and forward technology) to pro-
vide access to physical and mental health assess-
ment, diagnosis, treatment, intervention, consulta-
tion, supervision, and information across distance. 
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION OF TELEHEALTH 
AND INTERSTATE TREATMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of Federal or State law or regulation regarding the 
licensure or certification of health care providers or the 
provision of telehealth services, a health care professional 
may practice within the scope of the individual’s license, 
certification, or authorization described in section 3(1)(A), 
either in-person or through telehealth, in any State, the 
District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the 
United States, or any other location designated by the 
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Secretary, based on the licensure, certification, or author-
ization of such individual in any one State, the District 
of Columbia, or territory or possession of the United 
States. 
(b) SCOPE OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—Telehealth 
services authorized by this section include services pro-
vided to any patient regardless of whether the health care 
professional has a prior treatment relationship with the 
patient, provided that, if the health care professional does 
not have a prior treatment relationship with the patient, 
a new relationship may be established only via a written 
acknowledgment or synchronous technology. 
(c) INITIATION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES.—Before 
providing telehealth services authorized by this section, the 
health care professional shall— 
(1) verify the identification of the patient re-
ceiving health services; 
(2) obtain oral or written acknowledgment from 
the patient (or legal representative of the patient) to 
perform telehealth services, and if such acknowledg-
ment is oral, make a record of such acknowledg-
ment; and 
(3) obtain or confirm an alternative method of 
contacting the patient in case of a technological fail-
ure. 
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(d) WRITTEN NOTICE
OF PROVISION
OF SERV-
ICES.—As soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days 
after first providing services pursuant to this section in 
a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction in which a health 
care professional is licensed, certified, or otherwise author-
ized, such health care professional shall provide written 
notice to the applicable licensing, certifying, or authorizing 
authority in the jurisdiction in which the health care pro-
fessional provided such services. Such notice shall include 
the health care professional’s— 
(1) name; 
(2) email address; 
(3) phone number; 
(4) State of primary license, certification, or 
authorization; and 
(5) license, certification, or authorization type, 
and applicable number or identifying information 
with respect to such license, certification, or author-
ization. 
(e) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section author-
izes a health care professional to— 
(1) practice beyond the scope of practice au-
thorized by any State, District of Columbia, terri-
torial, or local authority in the jurisdiction in which 
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the health care professional holds a license, certifi-
cation, or authorization described in section 3(1)(A); 
(2) provide any service or subset of services 
prohibited by any such authority in the jurisdiction 
in which the patient receiving services is located; 
(3) provide any service or subset of services in 
a manner prohibited by any such authority the juris-
diction in which the patient receiving services is lo-
cated; or 
(4) provide any service or subset of services in 
a manner other than the manner prescribed by any 
such authority in the jurisdiction in which the pa-
tient receiving services is located. 
(f) INVESTIGATIVE
AND DISCIPLINARY AUTHOR-
ITY.—A health care professional providing services pursu-
ant to the authority under this section shall be subject 
to investigation and disciplinary action by the licensing, 
certifying, or authorizing authorities in the jurisdiction in 
which the patient receiving services is located. The juris-
diction in which the patient receiving services is located 
shall have the authority to preclude the health care pro-
vider from practicing further in its jurisdiction, whether 
such practice is authorized by the laws of such jurisdiction 
or the authority granted under this section, and shall re-
port any such preclusion to the licensing authority in the 
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jurisdiction in which the health care provider is licensed, 
certified, or authorized. 
(g) MULTIPLE JURISDICTION LICENSURE.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of this section, a health care 
professional shall be subject to the requirements of the 
jurisdiction of licensure if the professional is licensed in 
the State, the District of Columbia, or territory or posses-
sion where the patient is located. 
(h) INTERSTATE
LICENSURE
COMPACTS.—If a 
health care professional is licensed in multiple jurisdic-
tions through an interstate licensure compact, with respect 
to services provided to a patient located in a jurisdiction 
covered by such compact, the health care professional shall 
be subject to the requirements of the compact and not this 
section. 
SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 
This Act shall apply— 
(1) during the period beginning on the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending on the date that 
is at least 180 days (as determined by the Sec-
retary) after the end of the public health emergency 
declared by the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services under section 319 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, 
with respect to COVID–19; and 
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(2) subject to a declaration by the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services invoking such applica-
tion— 
(A) during a period in which there is in ef-
fect both— 
(i)(I) a major disaster with respect to 
not less than 12 States, declared by the 
President pursuant to section 401 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170) or emergency declared by the Presi-
dent under section 501 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); or 
(II) a national emergency declared by 
the President under the National Emer-
gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 
(ii) a public health emergency de-
clared by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services under section 319 of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
247d); and 
(B) for at least 180 days after the disaster 
or emergency period under subclause (I) or (II) 
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of subparagraph (a)(I) ends, as determined by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
Æ 
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