Title: Expanded Telehealth Access Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Expanded Telehealth Access Act

This bill permanently allows audiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and other providers designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide telehealth services under Medicare, and includes specified related services as eligible Medicare telehealth services.
Currently, the CMS is authorized to waive requirements for Medicare telehealth services during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), and it has done so to allow all providers that are otherwise eligible to furnish in-person services under Medicare to also furnish telehealth services.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8755 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8755

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the scope of 
 practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under the 
               Medicare program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2020

     Ms. Sherrill (for herself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
    Riggleman, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Thompson of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Kim, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Rush, Mr. Sires, Mr. Kevin Hern 
of Oklahoma, Mr. Timmons, and Mr. Tonko) introduced the following bill; 
  which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
    addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand the scope of 
 practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under the 
               Medicare program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expanded Telehealth Access Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF PRACTITIONERS ELIGIBLE FOR PAYMENT FOR 
              TELEHEALTH SERVICES UNDER MEDICARE.

    (a) Telehealth Provider Parity.--Section 1834(m) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``or a practitioner (described in 
                section 1842(b)(18)(C))'' and inserting ``or a 
                professional described in paragraph (4)(E))''; and
                    (B) by striking ``individual physician or 
                practitioner'' and inserting ``individual physician or 
                professional'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``practitioner'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``professional'' each such place;
                    (B) by inserting before ``located at a distant 
                site'' the following ``(or, in the case of an 
                occupational therapy assistant described in paragraph 
                (4)(E)(ii)(II) or a physical therapist assistant 
                described in paragraph (4)(E)(ii)(II), shall pay with 
                respect to such assistant)''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``(or, in the case of an 
                occupational therapy assistant described in paragraph 
                (4)(E)(ii)(II) or a physical therapist assistant 
                described in paragraph (4)(E)(ii)(II), the amount that 
                would have been paid under this title with respect to 
                such assistant)'' after ``would have been paid under 
                this title'';
            (3) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``or practitioner'' 
        and inserting ``or professional''; and
            (4) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (C), by 
                striking ``or practitioner'' and inserting ``or 
                professional''; and
                    (B) by amending subparagraph (E) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(E) Professional described.--A professional 
                described in this subparagraph is--
                            ``(i) a practitioner described in section 
                        1842(b)(18)(C); or
                            ``(ii) with respect to services furnished 
                        on or after the date of enactment of the 
                        Expanded Telehealth Access Act, a licensed--
                                    ``(I) audiologist;
                                    ``(II) occupational therapist and 
                                occupational therapy assistant under 
                                the supervision of an occupational 
                                therapist;
                                    ``(III) physical therapist and 
                                physical therapist assistant under the 
                                supervision of a physical therapist;
                                    ``(IV) speech language pathologist;
                                    ``(V) facility described in 
                                paragraph (8) or (9) of section 1833(a) 
                                that furnishes telehealth therapy 
                                services; and
                                    ``(VI) any additional health care 
                                provider, as specified by the 
                                Secretary, who participates under this 
                                title and furnishes a service that is 
                                included as a telehealth service under 
                                this subsection.''.
    (b) Additional Covered Telehealth Services.--Section 
1834(m)(4)(F)(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395m(m)(4)(F)(i)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
sentence: ``Such term shall include, audiology services (as defined in 
section 1861(ll)(3)) and outpatient therapy services (including such 
services furnished by a therapy assistant (as defined by the 
Secretary)), including physical therapy of the type described in 
section 1861(p), occupational therapy of the type that are described in 
section 1861(g), and speech-language pathology services of the type 
described in section 1861(ll)(2).''.
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