I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8308 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require group health plans 
and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance 
coverage to provide coverage for services furnished via telehealth if such 
services would be covered if furnished in-person, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 
Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. MORELLE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require group 
health plans and health insurance issuers offering group 
or individual health insurance coverage to provide cov-
erage for services furnished via telehealth if such services 
would be covered if furnished in-person, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Telehealth Coverage 
and Payment Parity Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING GROUP HEALTH PLANS AND HEALTH 
INSURANCE ISSUERS OFFERING GROUP OR 
INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE 
TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR SERVICES FUR-
NISHED VIA TELEHEALTH IF SUCH SERVICES 
WOULD BE COVERED IF FURNISHED IN-PER-
SON. 
(a) PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.—Subpart II of 
part A of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg–11 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 2730. REQUIRED COVERAGE OF TELEHEALTH SERV-
ICES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan and a health 
insurance issuer offering group or individual health insur-
ance coverage, including a grandfathered health plan (as 
defined in section 1251(e) of the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18011(e)))— 
‘‘(1) shall— 
‘‘(A) provide benefits under such plan or 
such coverage for any eligible service (as de-
fined in subsection (b)), including a mental 
health and substance use disorder service, fur-
nished via a qualifying telecommunications sys-
tem (as defined in subsection (b)) by a health 
care provider to an individual who is a partici-
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pant, beneficiary, or enrollee under such plan or 
such coverage, notwithstanding that such pro-
vider furnishing such service is not at the same 
location as the individual; 
‘‘(B) so provide such benefits for such 
service under the same terms and with applica-
tion of the same cost-sharing requirements (in-
cluding a deductible, copayment, or coinsur-
ance) as would apply if such service were fur-
nished by such provider to such individual in- 
person; 
‘‘(C) reimburse such provider for such 
service in an amount equal to the amount of re-
imbursement for such service had such service 
been furnished by such provider to such indi-
vidual in-person; 
‘‘(D) not impose any requirement under 
such plan or coverage that such provider have 
a prior relationship with such individual; and 
‘‘(E) not restrict the ability of any health 
care provider with a contractual relationship for 
furnishing an eligible service under such plan or 
coverage from furnishing such service via a 
qualifying telecommunications system, and shall 
not establish incentives or penalties under such 
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plan or coverage for receiving such an eligible 
service from such a provider via such a system; 
and 
‘‘(2) may waive any cost-sharing requirement 
(including application of a deductible, copayment, or 
coinsurance) for an item or service furnished for 
purposes of diagnosing or treating COVID-19, in-
cluding any such service that is an eligible service 
furnished via a qualifying telecommunications sys-
tem. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE
SERVICE.—The term ‘eligible 
service’ means, with respect to a group health plan 
and a health insurance issuer offering group or indi-
vidual health insurance coverage, a service— 
‘‘(A) for which benefits are provided under 
such plan or such coverage when such service is 
furnished in-person; 
‘‘(B) that is medically necessary (as deter-
mined by the health care provider furnishing 
such service); and 
‘‘(C) that is able to be safely and effec-
tively furnished via a telecommunications sys-
tem. 
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