119-hr1720

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1720 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1720

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend certain 
 telehealth flexibilities with respect to hospice care under the 
 Medicare program, and to establish a modifier for recertifications of 
 hospice care eligibility conducted through telehealth.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 27, 2025

Mrs. Miller of West Virginia (for herself, Mr. Golden of Maine, Ms. Van 
 Duyne, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Bean of Florida, and Mr. 
 Morelle) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend certain 
 telehealth flexibilities with respect to hospice care under the 
 Medicare program, and to establish a modifier for recertifications of 
 hospice care eligibility conducted through telehealth.

 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 ``Hospice Recertification Flexibility 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN TELEHEALTH FLEXIBILITIES.

 

Section 1814

    (a)

    (7)
            (D) 
            (i) 
            (II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395f

    (a)

    (7)
            (D) 
            (i) 
            (II) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``ending on March 31, 2025'' and inserting 
 ``ending on December 31, 2027''; and

    (2) by inserting ``, except that this subclause shall not 
 apply in the case of such an encounter with an individual 
 occurring on or after January 1, 2026, if such individual is 
 located in an area that has been subject to a moratorium on the 
 enrollment of hospice programs under this title pursuant to 
 

section 1866

    (j)

    (7) for a period of not less than 6 months, if 
 such individual is receiving hospice care from a provider that 
 is subject to enhanced oversight under this title pursuant to 
 

section 1866

    (j)

    (3) , or if such encounter is performed by a 
 hospice physician or nurse practitioner who is not enrolled 
 under 

section 1866

    (j) and is not an opt-out physician or 
 practitioner (as defined in 

section 1802

    (b)

    (6)
            (D) )'' before the 
 semicolon.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF MODIFIER FOR RECERTIFICATIONS OF HOSPICE CARE 
 ELIGIBILITY CONDUCTED THROUGH TELEHEALTH.

 

Section 1814

    (a)

    (7)
            (D) 
            (i) 
            (II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395f

    (a)

    (7)
            (D) 
            (i) 
            (II) ), as amended by 

section 2, is further amended by 
inserting ``, but only if, in the case of such an encounter occurring 
on or after January 1, 2026, any hospice claim includes 1 or more 
modifiers or codes (as specified by the Secretary) to indicate that 
such encounter was conducted via telehealth'' after ``as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary''.
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