S. 770 (106th): Comprehensive Telehealth Act of 1999

Introduced:
Apr 13, 1999 (106th Congress, 1999–2000)
Sponsor:
Sen. Kent Conrad [D-ND]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

(About Ads | Advertise Here)
Status

This bill was introduced on April 13, 1999, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Apr 13, 1999
Referred to Committee Apr 13, 1999
Cosponsors
6 cosponsors (5D, 1R) (show)
Committees

Senate Finance

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to provide reimbursement under the medicare program for telehealth services, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Apr 13, 1999.
29 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.

Citation

Click a format for a citation suggestion:

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

4/13/1999--Introduced.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Title I: Revision and Clarification of Medicare Reimbursement of Telehealth Services
- Title II: Telehealth Licensure
- Title III: Joint Working Group on Telehealth and Periodic Reports to Congress
- Title IV: Development of Telehealth Networks
- Subtitle A: Development of Telehealth Networks
- Subtitle B: Rural Health Outreach and Network Development Grant Program
Comprehensive Telehealth Act of 1999 -
Title I - Revision and Clarification of Medicare Reimbursement of Telehealth Services
Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 with respect to reimbursement of telehealth services under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to:
(1) include reimbursement for store-and-forward technologies, clinical psychologist and physical, occupational, and speech therapist practitioner services, and items and services covered under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) that are provided via telecommunications systems;
(2) extend telehealth coverage to all rural areas (currently, only those designated as health professional shortage areas under the Public Health Service Act);
(3) allow any health care practitioner acting on instructions from the referring physician or practitioner to present the Medicare beneficiary to the consulting physician or practitioner for the provision of items and services;
(4) prohibit the referring physician and the practitioner from receiving any reimbursement for such presentation other than the payment that the referring physician shares with the consulting physician; and
(5) provide that payment for items and services shall include payment for all current procedural terminology billing codes covered under Medicare.
Title II - Telehealth Licensure
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to Congress regarding:
(1) the number, percentage, and types of health care providers licensed to provide telehealth services across State lines;
(2) the status of any reciprocal, mutual recognition, fast-track, or other licensure agreements between or among various States, as well as the status of any efforts to develop uniform national sets of standards for the licensure of health care providers to provide telehealth services across State lines;
(3) a projection of future utilization of telehealth consultations across State lines;
(4) State efforts to increase or reduce licensure as a burden to interstate telehealth practice; and
(5) any State licensure requirements that appear to constitute unnecessary barriers to the provision of telehealth services across State lines.
Title III - Joint Working Group on Telehealth and Periodic Reports to Congress
Redesignates the Joint Working Group on Telemedicine as the Joint Working Group on Telehealth, with the chairperson designated by the Director of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. Makes it the mission of the Joint Working Group on Telehealth to:
(1) identify, monitor, coordinate, and analyze Federal telehealth projects, data sets, and programs; and
(2) make further recommendations for coordination of Federal and State efforts to increase access to health care services, education, and information in rural and underserved areas.
Requires the Joint Working Group to report annually, after a certain date, to Congress on mission status and the state of the telehealth field generally.
Authorizes appropriations.
Title IV - Development of Telehealth Networks
Subtitle A - Development of Telehealth Networks
Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Office for Advancement of Telehealth, to provide specified financial assistance to eligible telehealth networks to expand access to health care services for individuals in rural and frontier areas through the use of telehealth networks. Authorizes appropriations.
Subtitle B - Rural Health Outreach and Network Development Grant Program
Amends the Public Health Service Act to rename the current Rural Health Outreach, Network Development, and Telemedicine Grant Program as the Rural Health Outreach and Network Development Grant Program, adding certain limitations on equipment purchases, construction, and real property acquisitions that apply to eligible networks under such newly renamed Grant Program.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)