,,ib ,union ,calendar ,no4 #cee #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cgbg ,report ,no4 #aae-dhj1 ,part ,i ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,september #aa1 #bjag ,mrs4 ,black 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,thompson of ,california1 ,mrs4 ,brooks of ,indiana1 and ,ms4 ,matsui7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means1 and in addition to the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,december #ba1 #bjag ,additional sponsors3 ,mr4 ,curbelo of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,costello of ,pennsylvania1 and ,mr4 ,khanna ,december #ba1 #bjag ,reported from the ,committee on ,ways and ,means with an amendment ,strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic ,december #ba1 #bjag ,the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce discharged2 committed to the ,committee of the ,whole ,house on the ,state of the ,union and ordered to be printed ,for text of introduced bill1 see copy of bill as introduced on ,september #aa1 #bjag ,a ,,bill ,to amend title ,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act to include additional telehealth services for purposes of ,,ma organization bids1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,increasing ,telehealth ,access in ,medicare ,act or the ,,itam ,act4 #b4 ,inclusion of additional telehealth services in ,medicare ,advantage organization bids 7a7 ,in general ,section #aheb of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aciew-#bb7 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a77#a77;,b77i71 by adding at the end the following new sentence3 ,for plan year #bjbj and each subsequent plan year1 for purposes of subsection 7m7 and section #ahed1 in the case that an ,,ma plan makes an election described in subsection 7m77#a7 with respect to such plan year1 additional telehealth services shall be treated as a benefit under the original medicare fee-for-service program option with respect to such plan and plan year42 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following new subsection3 7m7 ,provision of additional telehealth services 7#a7 ,,ma plan option ,for purposes of subsection 7a77#a77;,b77i71 an election described in this paragraph1 with respect to an ,,ma plan and plan year1 is an election by the sponsor of such plan to provide under the plan for such plan year1 in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this subsection1 additional telehealth services 7as defined in paragraph 7#b77 as a benefit under the original medicare fee-for-service program option4 ,such additional telehealth services1 with respect to a plan year1 shall be in addition to benefits included under the original medicare fee-for-service program option for such year4 7#b7 ,additional telehealth services defined 7,a7 ,in general ,for purposes of this subsection and section #ahed1 the term additional telehealth services means1 subject to subparagraph 7,c71 services1 with respect to a year-- 7i7 for which payment may be made under part ,b 7without regard to application of section #ahcd7m772 7ii7 that1 if furnished via a telecommunications system1 would not be payable under section #ahcd7m72 7iii7 furnished using electronic information and telecommunications technology2 7iv7 furnished in accordance with such requirements as the ,secretary specifies pursuant to paragraph 7#c72 and 7v7 which are identified for such year by the ,secretary as appropriate to furnish using electronic information and telecommunications technology where a physician 7as defined in section #ahfa7r77 or practitioner 7described in section #ahdb7;b77#ah77;,c77 furnishing the service is not at the same location as the plan enrollee4 7,b7 ,flexibility for phasing in identifications ,in making identifications under subparagraph 7,a77v71 the ,secretary shall make such identifications annually and may make such identifications in a manner that results in additional telehealth services being phased in1 as determined appropriate by the ,secretary4 7,c7 ,exclusion of capital and infrastructure costs and investments ,for purposes of this subsection and section #ahed1 the term additional telehealth services does not include capital and infrastructure costs and investments relating to such benefits provided pursuant to this subsection4 7#c7 ,requirements for additional telehealth services ,the ,secretary shall specify requirements for the provision of additional telehealth services with respect to-- 7,a7 qualifications 7other than licensure7 of physicians and practitioners who furnish such services2 7,b7 the technology used in furnishing such services2 7,c7 factors necessary for coordination of additional telehealth services with other services2 and 7,d7 such other criteria 7such as clinical criteria7 as determined by the ,secretary4 7#d7 ,enrollee choice ,an ,,ma plan that provides a service as an additional telehealth service may not1 when furnished without use of electronic information and telecommunications technology1 deny access to the equivalent in-person service4 7#e7 ,construction 7,a7 ,in general ,in determining if an ,,ma organization or ,,ma plan1 as applicable1 is in compliance with each requirement specified in subparagraph 7,b71 such determination shall be made without regard to any additional telehealth services covered by the plan offered by such organization or plan pursuant to this subsection4 7,b7 ,requirements specified ,the requirements specified in this subparagraph are the following3 7i7 ,the requirements under subsection 7d74 7ii7 ,the requirement under subsection 7a77#a7 with respect to covering benefits under the original medicare fee-for-service program option1 as defined in the first sentence of paragraph 7,b77i7 of such subsection4 4 7b7 ,inclusion of additional telehealth services in ,,ma organization bid amount ,section #ahed7;a77#f77;,a77ii77,i7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aciew-#bd7;a77#f77;,a77ii77,i77 is amended by inserting 1 including1 for plan year #bjbj and subsequent plan years1 the provision of such benefits through the use of additional telehealth services under section #aheb7m7 before the semicolon at the end4 #c4 ,use of telecommunications systems in furnishing chronic care management services ,section #ahdh7;b77#h7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acie7;b77#h77 is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph3 7,c7 ,clarification ,in carrying out this paragraph1 with respect to chronic care management services1 the ,secretary may1 subject to subparagraph 7,b71 make payment for such services furnished through the use of secure messaging1 ,internet1 store and forward technologies1 or other non-face-to-face communication methods determined appropriate by the ,secretary4 4 #d4 ,sense of ,congress regarding parity of telehealth services ,it is the sense of ,congress that there should be-- 7#a7 parity1 with respect to access to telehealth1 between the original medicare fee-for-service program under parts ,a and ,b of title ,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act and the ,medicare ,advantage program under part ,c of such title2 and 7#b7 access to medically appropriate1 quality telehealth for all ,medicare beneficiaries4 #e4 ,deposit of savings into ,medicare ,improvement ,fund ,section #ahih7;b77#a7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acie;iii7b77#a77 is amended by striking during and after fiscal year #bjba1 #bgj1jjj1jjj and inserting during and after fiscal year #bjba1 #cbe1jjj1jjj4 ,december #ba1 #bjag ,reported from the ,committee on ,ways and ,means with an amendment,december #ba1 #bjag,the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce discharged2 committed to the ,committee of the ,whole ,house on the ,state of the ,union and ordered to be printed