[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6110 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6110

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize telehealth and 
                      telemedicine grant programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2010

 Mr. Butterfield introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize telehealth and 
                      telemedicine grant programs.

    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 ``Telehealth Improvement and Expansion 
Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF TELEHEALTH AND TELEMEDICINE GRANT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Telehealth Network and Telehealth Resource Centers Grant 
Programs.--Section 330I (42 U.S.C. 254c-14) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph (3) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(3) Frontier community.--The term `frontier community' 
        shall have such meaning as developed by the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than 
        one year after the date of the enactment of the Telehealth 
        Improvement and Expansion Act of 2010.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``, under section 
        301,'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``under section 301'' 
        and inserting ``under this section'';
            (4) in subsection (f)(1)(B)(iii)--
                    (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``Local health 
                departments'' and inserting ``State, local, or tribal 
                health departments'';
                    (B) in subclause (VII), by inserting ``, including 
                skilled nursing facilities'' before the period at the 
                end;
                    (C) in subclause (IX), by inserting ``, including 
                community mental health centers or county mental health 
                and public mental health facilities'' before the period 
                at the end; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(XIII) Renal dialysis 
                                facilities.'';
            (5) by amending subsection (i) to read as follows:
    ``(i) Preferences.--
            ``(1) Telehealth networks.--In awarding grants under 
        subsection (d)(1) for projects involving telehealth networks, 
        the Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities 
        meeting at least one of the following:
                    ``(A) Network.--The eligible entity is a health 
                care provider in, or proposing to form, a health care 
                network that furnishes services in a medically 
                underserved area or a health professional shortage 
                area.
                    ``(B) Broad geographic coverage.--The eligible 
                entity demonstrates broad geographic coverage in the 
                rural or medically underserved areas of the State or 
                States in which the entity is located.
                    ``(C) Linkages.--The eligible entity demonstrates 
                its ability to use the grant to establish or develop 
                plans for telehealth systems that will link rural 
                hospitals and rural health care providers to other 
                hospitals, health care providers, and patients.
                    ``(D) Efficiency.--The eligible entity demonstrates 
                its ability to use the grant to promote greater 
                efficiency in the use of health care resources.
                    ``(E) Viability.--The eligible entity demonstrates 
                the long-term viability of projects through--
                            ``(i) availability of non-Federal funding 
                        sources; and
                            ``(ii) institutional and community support 
                        for the telehealth network.
                    ``(F) Services.--The eligible entity provides a 
                plan for coordinating system use by eligible entities 
                and prioritizes use of grant funds for health care 
                services over nonclinical uses.
            ``(2) Telehealth resource centers.--In awarding grants 
        under subsection (d)(2) for projects involving telehealth 
        resource centers, the Secretary shall give preference to 
        eligible entities meeting at least one of the following:
                    ``(A) Provision of a broad range of services.--The 
                eligible entity has a record of success in the 
                provision of a broad range of telehealth services to 
                medically underserved areas or populations.
                    ``(B) Provision of telehealth technical 
                assistance.--The eligible entity has a record of 
                success in the provision of technical assistance to 
                providers serving medically underserved areas or 
                populations in the establishment and implementation of 
                telehealth services.
                    ``(C) Collaboration and sharing of expertise.--The 
                eligible entity has a demonstrated record of 
                collaborating and sharing expertise with providers of 
                telehealth services at the national, regional, State, 
                and local levels.'';
            (6) in subsection (j)(2)(B), by striking ``such projects 
        for fiscal year 2001'' and all that follows through the period 
        and inserting ``such projects for fiscal year 2010.'';
            (7) in subsection (k)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (E)(i), by striking 
                ``transmission of medical data'' and inserting 
                ``transmission and electronic archival of medical 
                data''; and
                    (B) by amending subparagraph (F) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(F) developing projects to use telehealth 
                technology to--
                            ``(i) facilitate collaboration between 
                        health care providers;
                            ``(ii) promote telenursing services; or
                            ``(iii) promote patient understanding and 
                        adherence to national guidelines for chronic 
                        disease and self-management of such 
                        conditions;'';
            (8) in subsection (n), by inserting ``and minimize 
        duplication'' before the period at the end;
            (9) in subsection (q), by striking ``Not later than 
        September 30, 2005'' and inserting ``Not later than 1 year 
        after the date of the enactment of the Telehealth Improvement 
        and Expansion Act of 2010, and annually thereafter'';
            (10) by striking subsection (r);
            (11) by redesignating subsection (s) as subsection (r); and
            (12) in subsection (r) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``and'' before ``such 
                        sums''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, $10,000,000 for each 
                        of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016'' before 
                        the semicolon; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``and'' before ``such 
                        sums''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, $10,000,000 for each 
                        of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016'' before 
                        the period.
    (b) Telemedicine; Incentive Grants Regarding Coordination Among 
States.--Subsection (b) of section 330L (42 U.S.C. 254c-18) is amended 
by inserting ``, $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 
2016'' before the period at the end.
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