[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 168 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 168
To provide temporary licensing reciprocity for telehealth and
interstate health care treatment.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 2, 2021
Mr. Murphy (for himself and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide temporary licensing reciprocity for telehealth and
interstate health care treatment.
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 ``Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure
Access to Treatment Act'' or the ``TREAT Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) It is necessary to regulate, on a temporary and
emergency basis, the provision of interstate commerce as it
pertains to treatment by medical professionals licensed in one
State to patients in other States.
(2) COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has created
a national public health emergency, as declared by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020,
and by the President under the National Emergencies Act on
March 13, 2020.
(3) The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in closing many
businesses and nonprofit organizations, including colleges and
universities, and large areas of the country remain under full
or partial stay-at-home orders, precluding the ability to seek
routine or elective medical treatment and consultation. The
closing of campus-based in-person learning at institutions of
higher education has also meant that up to 1,000,000 students
have returned to live with their families across State lines
from where they may have been receiving medical care in the
university setting. Furthermore, in many rural areas, in-person
medical treatment is inaccessible. Even in urban areas, the
pandemic has severely disrupted access to medical care,
requiring medical professionals licensed in one State to
provide treatment to patients residing nearby but across a
State line and unable to visit the medical professional's
office in the State of licensure.
(4) It is vital that hospitals, temporary surge or field
facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and nursing homes in
areas with high caseloads of COVID-19 patients be able to have
access to qualified medical professionals, including such
professionals licensed in other States, without the delays that
would be required for individualized licensing during a time
when State agencies' capacity to review and process licensing
requests are limited by the pandemic.
(5) The provision of services by medical professionals,
including services provided at no cost and services provided to
patients in a State other than the State or States in which the
medical professional maintains an office for professional
services, affects interstate commerce. When used to provide
services to patients located in a State other than the State in
which the medical professional is located, telehealth services,
as defined in section 3, utilize facilities of interstate
commerce.
(6) The inability of patients to visit in-State health care
providers during the current crisis substantially affects
interstate commerce. Economic activity has been limited by
public health authorities and other government officials to
``flatten the curve'' of infections and hospitalizations and
thereby prevent the health care system from becoming
overwhelmed. Maximizing the efficient and effective use of
health care resources is therefore vital to reopening the
economy.
(7) Barriers to the efficient delivery of health care
services will lead to a shortage of those services that
substantially affect health care availability across State
lines. Shortages in health care services in one State prompt
interstate travel to obtain health care in other States, even
though discouraging such travel, particularly among the sick,
is vital to containing the contagion and reopening the national
economy.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) the term ``health care professional'' means an
individual who--
(A) has a valid and unrestricted license or
certification from, or is otherwise authorized by, a
State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or
possession of the United States, for any health
profession, including mental health; and
(B) is not affirmatively excluded from practice in
the licensing or certifying jurisdiction or in any
other jurisdiction;
(2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health
and Human Services; and
(3) the term ``telehealth services'' means use of
telecommunications and information technology (including
synchronous or asynchronous audio-visual, audio-only, or store
and forward technology) to provide access to physical and
mental health assessment, diagnosis, treatment, intervention,
consultation, supervision, and information across distance.
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION OF TELEHEALTH AND INTERSTATE TREATMENT.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal or
State law or regulation regarding the licensure or certification of
health care providers or the provision of telehealth services, a health
care professional may practice within the scope of the individual's
license, certification, or authorization described in section 3(1)(A),
either in-person or through telehealth, in any State, the District of
Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States, or any
other location designated by the Secretary, based on the licensure,
certification, or authorization such individual in any one State, the
District of Columbia, or territory or possession of the United States.
(b) Scope of Telehealth Services.--Telehealth services authorized
by this section include services provided to any patient regardless of
whether the health care professional has a prior treatment relationship
with the patient, provided that, if the health care professional does
not have a prior treatment relationship with the patient, a new
relationship may be established only via a written acknowledgment or
synchronous technology.
(c) Initiation of Telehealth Services.--Before providing telehealth
services authorized by this section, the health care professional
shall--
(1) verify the identification of the patient receiving
health services;
(2) obtain oral or written acknowledgment from the patient
(or legal representative of the patient) to perform telehealth
services, and if such acknowledgment is oral, make a record of
such acknowledgment; and
(3) obtain or confirm an alternative method of contacting
the patient in case of a technological failure.
(d) Written Notice of Provision of Services.--As soon as
practicable, but not later than 30 days after first providing services
pursuant to this section in a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction
in which a health care professional is licensed, certified, or
otherwise authorized, such health care professional shall provide
written notice to the applicable licensing, certifying, or authorizing
authority in the jurisdiction in which the health care professional
provided such services. Such notice shall include the health care
professional's--
(1) name;
(2) email address;
(3) phone number;
(4) State of primary license, certification, or
authorization; and
(5) license, certification, or authorization type, and
applicable number or identifying information with respect to
such license, certification, or authorization.
(e) Clarification.--Nothing in this section authorizes a health
care professional to--
(1) practice beyond the scope of practice authorized by--
(A) any State, District of Columbia, territorial,
or local authority in the jurisdiction in which the
health care professional holds a license,
certification, or authorization described in section
3(1)(A); or
(B) any State, District of Columbia, territorial,
or local authority in the jurisdiction in which the
patient receiving services is located;
(2) provide any service or subset of services prohibited by
any such authority in the jurisdiction in which the patient
receiving services is located;
(3) provide any service or subset of services in a manner
prohibited by any such authority the jurisdiction in which the
patient receiving services is located; or
(4) provide any service or subset of services in a manner
other than the manner prescribed by any such authority in the
jurisdiction in which the patient receiving services is
located.
(f) Investigative and Disciplinary Authority.--A health care
professional providing services pursuant to the authority under this
section shall be subject to investigation and disciplinary action by
the licensing, certifying, or authorizing authorities in the
jurisdiction in which the patient receiving services is located. The
jurisdiction in which the patient receiving services is located shall
have the authority to preclude the health care provider from practicing
further in its jurisdiction, whether such practice is authorized by the
laws of such jurisdiction or the authority granted under this section,
and shall report any such preclusion to the licensing authority in the
jurisdiction in which the health care provider is licensed, certified,
or authorized.
(g) Multiple Jurisdiction Licensure.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, a health care professional shall be subject
to the requirements of the jurisdiction of licensure if the
professional is licensed in the State, the District of Columbia, or
territory or possession where the patient is located.
(h) Interstate Licensure Compacts.--If a health care professional
is licensed in multiple jurisdictions through an interstate licensure
compact, with respect to services provided to a patient located in a
jurisdiction covered by such compact, the health care professional
shall be subject to the requirements of the compact and not this
section.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION.
This Act shall apply during the period beginning on the date of
enactment of this Act and ending on the date that is at least 180 days
(as determined by the Secretary) after the end of the public health
emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under
section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on
January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID-19.
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