NY State Senate Bill 2021-S9584

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Oct 26, 2022	referred to rules

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §2999-dd, Pub Health L; amd Part V §7, Chap 57 of 2022
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2023-2024: S2776
2025-2026: S354

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Expands the healthcare services provided by telehealth; removes the sunset date of such expansion.

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9584

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding health-
care services provided by telehealth; and to amend part V of chapter 57
of the laws of 2022 amending the public health law and the insurance law
relating to reimbursement for commercial and Medicaid services provided
via telehealth, in relation to the effectiveness thereof

 
PURPOSE:

To expand healthcare services provided by telehealth.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends public health law, establishing guidelines for
reimbursement rates for certain services delivered by telehealth.
Generally, telehealth services are entitled to reimbursement at parity
to reimbursement provided for in-person services. However, telehealth
services provided by articles 16, 31, or 32, which provide services for

individuals with developmental disabilities, mental health, and
substance use disorders respectively, are only reimbursed at the appli-
cable in person rate if the service is explicitly authorized by the
Commissioners of the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities
(OPWDD), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), or the Office of Addiction
Services and Supports (OASAS) respectively. This bill would create a
general presumptive reimbursement at parity for all telehealth services
provided through these facilities unless a specific service is deemed
inappropriate by the relevant commissioner.

Section 2. Eliminates the sunset for telehealth reimbursement parity
statute, which is set to be repealed on April 1, 2024.

Section 3. Establishes an effective date of 60 days following enactment.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Healthcare services delivered through telehealth have been used to
address non-urgent care or routine management of medical or psychiatric
conditions. Telehealth has played an important role in addressing
certain conditions, as it makes people feel more comfortable receiving
services from home. Recently, we have seen a surge in demand for
services related to mental health health and substance use disorders,
which has inundated the provider community.  This bill will help to
incentivize providers operating in that space to provide services
through telehealth with the goal of increasing access to care for indi-
viduals seeking such services. The bill would create a general presump-
tion that these services are reimbursed at parity unless the respective
Commissioners of OMH, OPWDD, or OASAS determine that telehealth is an
inappropriate modality for a specific service. This bill will also
remove uncertainty as it relates to the future of telehealth reimburse-
ment generally, by eliminating the sunset clause on the telehealth
payment parity statute enacted in the SFY 2022-23 budget.

Prior to COVID-19, the use of telemedicine was relatively minimal.
Since the start of the pandemic, the use of telehealth services has
grown rapidly, as a way to help maintain social distancing and improve
the ability of providers to deliver services. However, with the rise of
telehealth utilization, there has been a lack of uniform coverage poli-
cies across insurers and states. This bill will ensure that telehealth
services will continue to be provided with the support of appropriate
reimbursement rates.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 60 days after it shall have become law.

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9584
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             October 26, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding  health-
   care  services  provided by telehealth; and to amend part V of chapter
   57 of the laws of 2022 amending the public health law and  the  insur-
   ance  law  relating  to  reimbursement  for  commercial  and  Medicaid
   services provided via telehealth, in  relation  to  the  effectiveness
   thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 2999-dd of the public health  law,
 as  amended by section 2 of part V of chapter 57 of the laws of 2022, is
 amended to read as follows:
   1. Health care services delivered by  means  of  telehealth  shall  be
 entitled  to  reimbursement under section three hundred sixty-seven-u of
 the social services law on the same basis, at the same rate, and to  the
 same  extent  the  equivalent services, as may be defined in regulations
 promulgated by  the  commissioner,  are  reimbursed  when  delivered  in
 person;  provided, however, that health care services delivered by means
 of telehealth shall not require reimbursement to a  telehealth  provider
 for  certain  costs, including but not limited to facility fees or costs
 reimbursed through ambulatory patient groups or other clinic  reimburse-
 ment  methodologies  set  forth in section twenty-eight hundred seven of
 this chapter, if such costs were not incurred in the provision of  tele-
 health services due to neither the originating site nor the distant site
 occurring  within  a  facility  or  other  clinic  setting;  and further
 provided, however, reimbursement  for  additional  modalities,  provider
 categories  and  originating  sites specified in accordance with section
 twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-ee of this article, and audio-only tele-
 phone communication  defined  in  regulations  promulgated  pursuant  to
 subdivision  four  of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-cc of this
 article, shall  be  contingent  upon  federal  financial  participation.
 Notwithstanding   the  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  for  services
 licensed, certified or otherwise authorized pursuant to article sixteen,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD16344-01-2
 S. 9584                             2
 
 article thirty-one or article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law, such
 services provided by telehealth[, as deemed appropriate by the  relevant
 commissioner,]  shall be reimbursed at the applicable in person rates or
 fees  established  by  law, or otherwise established or certified by the
 office for people with  developmental  disabilities,  office  of  mental
 health,  or  the  office  of addiction services and supports pursuant to
 article forty-three of the mental hygiene law, UNLESS A SPECIFIC SERVICE
 IS DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE BY THE RELEVANT COMMISSIONER.
   § 2. Section 7 of part V of chapter 57 of the laws  of  2022  amending
 the  public  health  law and the insurance law relating to reimbursement
 for commercial and Medicaid services provided via telehealth is  amended
 to read as follows:
   §  7.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full  force  and  effect  on  and  after  April  1,  2022[;
 provided,  however,  this act shall expire and be deemed repealed on and
 after April 1, 2024].
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided,  however,  that
 section  one  of this act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it
 shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S9584

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Actions

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Gustavo Rivera

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Actions

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S9584 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments