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.
LBD16310-04-0
A. 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.
