Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2662
Sponsor: Sen. Cochran, Thad [R-MS]
Introduced: 2014-07-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Computers and information technology
Department of Health and Human Services
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health technology, devices, supplies
Home and outpatient care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicaid
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: 
Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in order to provide a positive incentive for certain hospitals to lower their excess readmission ratios for inpatient services, to make an additional payment to a hospital in such proportion that provides for a sharing of the savings from better-than-expected performance between the hospital and the Medicare program.
 
Authorizes the Secretary, in the case of a state that has amended its Medicaid plan to provide coordinated care through a health home for individuals with chronic conditions, to contract with the state medical assistance agency to serve eligible individuals with chronic conditions who select a designated provider, a team of health care professionals operating with such a provider, or a health team as the individual's health home. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary to contract with a national or multi-state regional center of excellence with a network of affiliated local providers to provide through one or more medical homes for targeted, accessible, continuous, and coordinated care to individuals under Medicare and Medicaid with a long-term illness or medical condition that requires regular medical treatment, advising, and monitoring.
 
Authorizes an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) to include coverage of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services as supplemental health care benefits to the same extent as a Medicare Advantage plan is permitted to provide such coverage of such services as supplemental health care. 
 
Recognizes telehealth services and remote patient monitoring in the national pilot program on payment bundling.
 
Includes among originating sites (at which an eligible telehealth individual is located at the time a service is furnished via a telecommunications system), but without receiving payment of a facility fee, any critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, home telehealth sites, as well as specified others.
 
Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to give states the option to provide coordinated care for enrollees with high-risk pregnancies and births.
 
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify additional health care providers to which universal telecommunications service support must be provided. 
 
Requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for enhancing health care provider access to advanced telecommunications and information services to disregard provider location.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2014-07-24
text: Introduced in Senate