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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1052
January Session, 2019
AN ACT EXPANDING MED ICAID COVERAGE OF TELEHEALTH
SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this 1
section, (1) "telehealth" means the remote delivery of physical and 2
mental health care services to facilitate the diagnosis, treatment, 3
education, care management and self-management of a patient via 4
information and communication technologies that may include, but 5
are not limited to, (A) videoconferencing, (B) computer programs, and 6
(C) mobile cellular phone applications; (2) (A) "asynchronous", (B) 7
"originating site", (C) "remote patient monitoring", (D) "store and 8
forward transfer", and (E) "synchronous" have the same meaning as 9
provided in section 19a-906 of the general statutes; and (3) "electronic 10
consultations" means the sharing of information and advice 11
electronically by providers. 12
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall expand coverage of 13
telehealth services under the medical assistance program. 14
Notwithstanding any provision of section 19a-906 of the general 15
statutes, the commissioner shall provide Medicaid coverage state wide 16
not later than July 1, 2020, for (1) asynchronous transmission of health 17
information, (2) electronic consultations, (3) remote patient monitoring, 18
(4) store and forward transfer of a patient's medical information, and 19
(5) synchronous forms of telehealth services whenever such coverage 20 Substitute Bill No. 1052
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meets federal Medicaid requirements for efficiency, economy and 21
quality of care. 22
(c) On and after July 1, 2019, the commissioner shall phase in state-23
wide coverage of telehealth services beginning with (1) chronic 24
conditions, including, but not limited to, diabetes and cardiac 25
conditions, (2) behavioral disorders, including, but not limited to, 26
substance abuse, and (3) mental health disorders. The commissioner 27
shall establish requirements for telehealth providers to (A) ensure 28
privacy of patient information and (B) obtain consent for telehealth 29
services. The commissioner may limit coverage of telehealth services to 30
originating sites and licensed providers approved by the 31
commissioner. 32
(d) The commissioner may seek federal approval for a Medicaid 33
state plan amendment, if necessary, to establish rates of 34
reimbursement for telehealth services not already included under 35
other rates of reimbursement in the Medicaid state plan. The 36
commissioner shall seek federal approval of any Medicaid waiver or 37
other program authorized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 38
Services that would allow for (1) a more expeditious expansion of 39
telehealth services, or (2) a higher rate of federal reimbursement for 40
such services. The submission of any such Medicaid state plan 41
amendment or waiver shall be in accordance with the provisions of 42
section 17b-8 of the general statutes. 43
Sec. 2. Section 17b-245e of the general statutes is repealed. (Effective 44
from passage) 45
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage Repealer section
Substitute Bill No. 1052
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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a), the definitions of "telehealth" and "telemental health"
were combined and redrafted for clarity and accuracy and
subdivisions were redesignated accordingly; in Section 1(c), "(A)" was
added before "ensure" and "(B) obtain" was added before "consent" for
clarity and consistency with drafting conventions.
HS Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO