The proposed U.S. health care bill would enact a Telehealth Advisory Committee. While I am not writing to debate the current merits of the health care bill in general, I find this particular component potentially valuable in promoting online therapy. The committee would consist of physicians and non-physician health care professionals so we need someone representing mental health and counselor efforts on that committee! This would also seem the perfect forum to discuss license portability or national licensure.
I have excerpted the information from the bill below which can be found on page 379.
If you want to see the entire 1017 pages go here
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.pdf
Happy reading!!
Subtitle F—Medicare Rural Access
9 Protections
10 SEC. 1191. TELEHEALTH EXPANSION AND ENHANCEMENTS.
11 (a) ADDITIONAL TELEHEALTH SITE.—
12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4)(C)(ii) of sec13
tion 1834(m) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
14 1395m(m)) is amended by adding at the end the fol15
lowing new subclause:
16 ‘‘(IX) A renal dialysis facility.’’
17 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
18 by paragraph (1) shall apply to services furnished on
19 or after January 1, 2011.
20 (b) TELEHEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—
21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 1868 of the So22
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ee) is amended—
23 (A) in the heading, by adding at the end
24 the following: ‘‘TELEHEALTH ADVISORY COM25
MITTEE’’; and
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following new
2 subsection:
3 ‘‘(c) TELEHEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—
4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appoint
5 a Telehealth Advisory Committee (in this subsection
6 referred to as the ‘Advisory Committee’) to make
7 recommendations to the Secretary on policies of the
8 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding
9 telehealth services as established under section
10 1834(m), including the appropriate addition or dele11
tion of services (and HCPCS codes) to those speci12
fied in paragraphs (4)(F)(i) and (4)(F)(ii) of such
13 section and for authorized payment under paragraph
14 (1) of such section.
15 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP; TERMS.—
16 ‘‘(A) MEMBERSHIP.—
17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory
18 Committee shall be composed of 9 mem19
bers, to be appointed by the Secretary, of
20 whom—
21 ‘‘(I) 5 shall be practicing physi22
cians;
23 ‘‘(II) 2 shall be practicing non24
physician health care practitioners;
25 and
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1 ‘‘(III) 2 shall be administrators
2 of telehealth programs.
3 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINT4
ING MEMBERS.—In appointing members of
5 the Advisory Committee, the Secretary
6 shall—
7 ‘‘(I) ensure that each member
8 has prior experience with the practice
9 of telemedicine or telehealth;
10 ‘‘(II) give preference to individ11
uals who are currently providing tele12
medicine or telehealth services or who
13 are involved in telemedicine or tele14
health programs;
15 ‘‘(III) ensure that the member16
ship of the Advisory Committee rep17
resents a balance of specialties and
18 geographic regions; and
19 ‘‘(IV) take into account the rec20
ommendations of stakeholders.
21 ‘‘(B) TERMS.—The members of the Advi22
sory Committee shall serve for such term as the
23 Secretary may specify.
24 ‘‘(C) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—An advi25
sory committee member may not participate
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1 with respect to a particular matter considered
2 in an advisory committee meeting if such mem3
ber (or an immediate family member of such
4 member) has a financial interest that could be
5 affected by the advice given to the Secretary
6 with respect to such matter.
7 ‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee
8 shall meet twice each calendar year and at such
9 other times as the Secretary may provide.
10 ‘‘(4) PERMANENT COMMITTEE.—Section 14 of
11 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
12 App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Committee.’’
13 (2) FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS.—Section
14 1834(m)(4)(F) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
15 1395m(m)(4)(F)) is amended by adding at the end
16 the following new clause:
17 ‘‘(iii) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
18 TELEHEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—In
19 making determinations under clauses (i)
20 and (ii), the Secretary shall take into ac21
count the recommendations of the Tele22
health Advisory Committee (established
23 under section 1868(c)) when adding or de24
leting services (and HCPCS codes) and in
25 establishing policies of the Centers for
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1 Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding
2 the delivery of telehealth services. If the
3 Secretary does not implement such a rec4
ommendation, the Secretary shall publish
5 in the Federal Register a statement re6
garding the reason such recommendation
7 was not implemented.’’
8 (3) WAIVER OF ADMINISTRATIVE LIMITA9
TION.—The Secretary of Health and Human Serv10
ices shall establish the Telehealth Advisory Com11
mittee under the amendment made by paragraph (1)
12 notwithstanding any limitation that may apply to
13 the number of advisory committees that may be es14
tablished (within the Department of Health and
15 Human Services or otherwise).
16 SEC. 1192. EXTENSION OF OUTPATIENT HOL
