RPM Access Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3108 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3108

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to payment
       for remote patient monitoring under the Medicare program.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2025

 Mr. Kustoff (for himself, Mr. Balderson, Mr. Davis of North Carolina,
and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to payment
       for remote patient monitoring under the Medicare program.

    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 ``Rural Patient Monitoring Access
Act'' or the ``RPM Access Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Remote patient monitoring (in this section referred to
        as ``RPM'') supports highly coordinated care, improves patient
        outcomes, and can lower costs to the Medicare program.
            (2) Three out of five federally designated health
        professional shortage areas are in rural regions, and rural
        residents generally must travel farther than urban counterparts
        to access health care services.
            (3) Medicare reimbursement for RPM is lowest in States
        where the prevalence of heart failure, hypertension, and
        diabetes are well above the national average.
            (4) The practice expenses and malpractice expenses incurred
        in the delivery of RPM are not lower in rural areas and do not
        widely vary by State.

SEC. 3. FLOOR FOR PRACTICE EXPENSE AND MALPRACTICE GEOGRAPHIC INDICES
              FOR REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING.

    Section 1848(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-
4(e)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
                    ``(J) Floor for practice expense and malpractice
                geographic indices for remote patient monitoring.--For
                purposes of payment for remote patient monitoring
                furnished on or after January 1, 2026, after
                calculating the practice expense and malpractice
                geographic indices in clauses (i) and (ii) of
                subparagraph (A) and in subparagraph (B), the Secretary
                shall increase any such index to 1.00 if such index
                would otherwise be less than 1.00. The preceding
                sentence shall not be applied in a budget neutral
                manner.''.

SEC. 4. ENSURING HIGH-QUALITY REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING UNDER MEDICARE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1834 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395m) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(aa) Payment for Remote Patient Monitoring.--In the case of
remote patient monitoring furnished on or after January 1, 2026, no
payment may be made under this part for such monitoring furnished by a
provider of services or supplier unless--
            ``(1) a physician, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse
        specialist, or physician assistant is available in real time to
        respond to any physiologic anomaly detected through such
        monitoring;
            ``(2) such monitoring is furnished through a system that
        can transmit physiologic data obtained through such monitoring
        in a format that is compatible with electronic health records,
        as needed; and
            ``(3) the provider or supplier collects and reports such
        data as the Secretary may require in order to facilitate the
        evaluation of cost savings to the program under this title that
        are generated by the use of remote patient monitoring, except
        that the Secretary may exempt a provider or supplier under this
        paragraph if the Secretary determines that such collection and
        reporting of data would result in unreasonable hardship upon
        such provider or supplier.''.
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the date of
        the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health and
        Human Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes
        the following information, with respect to the 4-year period
        beginning January 1, 2026:
                    (A) An analysis of the estimated savings to the
                Medicare program resulting from earlier interventions
                and fewer days of hospitalization among Medicare
                beneficiaries furnished remote patient monitoring (as
                such term is used for purposes of title XVIII of the
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.)) during
                such period.
                    (B) An analysis of the estimated savings to the
                Medicare program resulting from increased adherence to
                prescription medications among Medicare beneficiaries
                furnished remote patient monitoring during such period.
                    (C) An analysis of practice expenses as defined in
                section 1848(j) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
                1395w-4(j)) related to the furnishing of remote patient
                monitoring during such period, including expenses
                related to cellular connectivity and other technology
                platform maintenance.
            (2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) Medicare beneficiary.--The term ``Medicare
                beneficiary'' means an individual entitled to benefits
                under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act
                (42 U.S.C. 1395c et seq.) or enrolled under part B of
                such title (42 U.S.C. 1395j et seq.)
                    (B) Medicare program.--The term ``Medicare
                program'' means the Medicare program under title XVIII
                of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.).
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