Bill Text: NY A10404 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Includes audio-only and video-only telehealth and telemedicine services in those telehealth and telemedicine services eligible for reimbursement.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-1)
Status: (Passed) 2020-06-17 - SIGNED CHAP.124 [A10404 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A10404-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10404--A IN ASSEMBLY May 4, 2020 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to including audio- only and video-only telehealth and telemedicine services in those telehealth and telemedicine services eligible for reimbursement The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 2999-cc of the public health law, 2 as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 4. "Telehealth" means the use of electronic information and communi- 5 cation technologies by telehealth providers to deliver health care 6 services, which shall include the assessment, diagnosis, consultation, 7 treatment, education, care management and/or self-management of a 8 patient. Telehealth shall not include delivery of health care services 9 by means of [audio-only telephone communication,] facsimile machines, or 10 electronic messaging alone, though use of these technologies is not 11 precluded if used in conjunction with telemedicine, store and forward 12 technology, or remote patient monitoring. For purposes of this section, 13 telehealth shall be limited to telemedicine, store and forward technolo- 14 gy, [and] remote patient monitoring and audio-only telephone communi- 15 cation, except that with respect to the medical assistance program 16 established under section three hundred sixty-six of the social services 17 law, and the child health insurance plan under title one-A of article 18 twenty-five of this chapter, telehealth shall include audio-only tele- 19 phone communication only to the extent defined in regulations as may be 20 promulgated by the commissioner. This subdivision shall not preclude the 21 delivery of health care services by means of "home telehealth" as used 22 in section thirty-six hundred fourteen of this chapter. 23 § 2. Section 2999-ee of the public health law, as added by section 3 24 of part HH of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as 25 follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16310-04-0A. 10404--A 2 1 § 2999-ee. Increased application of telehealth. In order to increase 2 the application of telehealth in behavioral health, oral health, mater- 3 nity care, care management, services provided in emergency departments, 4 and services provided to certain high-need populations to the extent 5 such services are deemed appropriate for the populations served, and 6 notwithstanding the definitions set forth in section twenty-nine hundred 7 ninety-nine-cc of this article, in consultation with the commissioner of 8 the office of children and family services, the commissioner of the 9 office of mental health, the commissioner of the office of addiction 10 services and supports, or the commissioner of the office for people with 11 developmental disabilities, as applicable, the commissioner may specify 12 in regulation additional acceptable modalities for the delivery of 13 health care services via telehealth, including but not limited to audi- 14 o-only or video-only telephone communications, online portals and survey 15 applications, and may specify additional categories of originating sites 16 at which a patient may be located at the time health care services are 17 delivered to the extent such additional modalities and originating sites 18 are deemed appropriate for the populations served. 19 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 2999-dd of the public health law, as 20 amended by section 2 of part HH of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is 21 amended to read as follows: 22 1. Health care services delivered by means of telehealth shall be 23 entitled to reimbursement under section three hundred sixty-seven-u of 24 the social services law; provided however, reimbursement for additional 25 modalities, provider categories and originating sites specified in 26 accordance with section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-ee of this arti- 27 cle, and audio-only telephone communication defined in regulations 28 promulgated pursuant to subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred 29 ninety-nine-cc of this article, shall be contingent upon federal finan- 30 cial participation. 31 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.