[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4348 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4348

 To provide for the conduct of a GAO study and report on rural health 
                  access during the COVID-19 pandemic.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2020

Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Ms. Smith) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the conduct of a GAO study and report on rural health 
                  access during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    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 ``Rural Health Care Access Review Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON RURAL HEALTH ACCESS DURING THE COVID-19 
              PANDEMIC.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study on access to health care in rural areas during the 
public health emergency described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)(1)(B)). Such study shall 
include the following:
            (1) To the extent data are available, an analysis of 
        access, quality, patient and provider experience, and spending 
        and utilization of telehealth services furnished during such 
        public health emergency. Such evaluation shall be broken out by 
        each of the following:
                    (A) Individuals enrolled in the Medicare and 
                Medicaid programs.
                    (B) The provider type and medical specialty of the 
                practitioner furnishing the telehealth service.
                    (C) The modality under which such telehealth 
                services were furnished--
                            (i) using audio-only technology; and
                            (ii) using audio-visual technology.
            (2) To the extent data are available, an analysis of how 
        these flexibilities influenced private payer policies on 
        telehealth.
            (3) To the extent data are available, an analysis of 
        disparities in access to, and quality of, telehealth services 
        during such public health emergency.
            (4) To the extent data are available, an analysis of 
        barriers to accessing and providing telehealth services covered 
        by the Medicare or Medicaid programs, including those related 
        to broadband infrastructure.
            (5) An analysis of what is known about the privacy impacts 
        of the waiver of Federal privacy regulations during such public 
        health emergency.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to the 
Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means and the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
containing the results of the study conducted under subsection (a).
    (c) Definition of Rural Area.--In this section, the term ``rural 
area'' means an area classified as rural by the Federal Office of Rural 
Health Policy of the Health Resources & Services Administration.
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