Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Expanded Telehealth Access Act”.
Expanded Telehealth Access Act
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.
Sec. 2 Expanding the scope of practitioners eligible for payment for telehealth services under Medicare
Telehealth provider parity— Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(m)) is amended—
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “or a practitioner (described in section 1842(b)(18)(C))” and inserting “or a professional described in paragraph (4)(E))”; and
by striking “individual physician or practitioner” and inserting “individual physician or professional”;
in paragraph (2)—
by striking “practitioner” each place it appears and inserting “professional” each such place;
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
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”;
in paragraph (3)(A), by striking “or practitioner” and inserting “or professional”; and
in paragraph (4)—
in each of subparagraphs (A) and (C), by striking “or practitioner” and inserting “or professional”; and
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.”
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).”.