NY State Senate Bill 2023-S6664

Senate Bill S6664

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Adds services delivered to individuals with developmental disabilities to the requirement that telehealth services be reimbursed at the applicable in person rates or fees regardless of location

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health 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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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to health
May 03, 2023	referred to health

2023-S6664 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6509
Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §2999-dd, Pub Health L

2023-S6664 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Adds services delivered, to individuals with developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury, through a facility licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law, to the requirement that telehealth services be reimbursed at the applicable in person rates or fees regardless of the location of the patient or the clinician.

2023-S6664 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6664

SPONSOR: BRESLIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to reimbursement for
telehealth services

 
PURPOSE:

Currently, telehealth services licensed, certified, or otherwise author-
ized pursuant to article sixteen, article thirty-one or article thirty-
two of the mental hygiene law, are required to be reimbursed at the
applicable in person rates or fees regardless of the location of the
patient or the clinician. This bill would add services delivered, to
individuals with developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury,
through a facility licensed under article twenty-eight of the public
health law, to the requirement that telehealth services be reimbursed at
the applicable in person rates or fees regardless of the location of the
patient or the clinician.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one amends public health law section 2999-dd. Section two sets
forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The telehealth flexibilities allowed by Medicare and Medicaid during the
Public Health Emergency (PHE) enabled clinics to use telehealth technol-
ogy in the most efficient and effective manner for people with develop-
mental disabilities (IDD). Current law stipulates that when the PHE
ends, telehealth services where both the clinician and patient are via
telehealth and located outside the Article 28 clinic, the reimbursement
for the telehealth visit will be reduced to eliminate clinic operating
or facility costs. However, no costs are eliminated simply because a
service is provided via telehealth. In fact, telehealth creates addi-
tional expenses for software, hardware and internet services, etc. This
will effectively eliminate telehealth and access to physicians for indi-
viduals with disabilities.

Article 28. clinics' Medicaid reimbursement rates have only had one 1%
increase since 2008, while health care costs have increased 103% since
2008. As a result, Article 28 clinics serving individuals with develop-
mental disabilities are losing 30-35% of their operating costs.

There's also an access issue, particularly for people with IDD: it is
very difficult for our Article 28 clinics to hire clinicians - partic-
ularly specialists, and remote work has made it possible to recruit
specialists to meet these patients' needs. If specialists are required
to come to the clinic site, people with I/DD will have reduced access to
specialists. If patients with I/DD are required to come into the clinic
for a telehealth visit with a clinician, the benefit of telehealth would
be negated.

Telehealth provides better access and quality of care for people with
disabilities. Without this access to care, people with disabilities will
rely on emergency rooms and hospital inpatient stays for their health
care.  This bill allows for the full reimbursement of the telehealth
service provided through an Article 28 facility regardless of the
location for the provider or patient, Providing access to health care,
better quality of care and significant Medicaid savings.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately.

2023-S6664 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6664
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 3, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to reimbursement  for
   telehealth services
 
   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,
 article  thirty-one or article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law, AND
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10741-01-3

 S. 6664                             2
 
 FOR ANY SERVICES DELIVERED THROUGH A  FACILITY  LICENSED  UNDER  ARTICLE
 TWENTY-EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS DIAGNOSED WITH A DEVEL-
 OPMENTAL  DISABILITY OR A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, such services provided
 by  telehealth[,  as  deemed  appropriate by the relevant commissioner,]
 shall be reimbursed at the applicable in person  rates  or  fees  estab-
 lished  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.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  be  deemed  to
 have  been in effect on and after April 1, 2023; provided, however, that
 the amendments to subdivision 1 of section 2999-dd of the public  health
 law  made  by section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration
 and reversion of  such  subdivision  and  shall  expire  and  be  deemed
 repealed therewith.

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