Fair Telehealth Billing Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9431 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9431

    To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to
  prohibit health care providers and facilities from imposing certain
                     facility fees for telehealth.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2026

  Mrs. Hayes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                  Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to
  prohibit health care providers and facilities from imposing certain
                     facility fees for telehealth.

    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 ``Fair Telehealth Billing Act of
2026''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND FACILITIES FROM IMPOSING
              CERTAIN FACILITY FEES FOR TELEHEALTH.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle B of title I of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following new part:

``PART 9--BILLING REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AND PROVIDERS

``SEC. 901. LIMITATION ON TELEHEALTH FACILITY FEES.

    ``A health care provider or facility may not bill a separate
facility fee when a health care provider who provided telehealth
services is authorized to bill independently for the professional
services rendered.''.
    (b) Enforcement.--Section 502 of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ``or (9)'' and
        inserting ``(9), or (13)''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following
        new paragraph:
            ``(13) If a health care provider or facility is found by
        the Secretary to be in violation of section 901, the Secretary
        may assess a civil monetary penalty against such provider or
        facility in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per violation.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 804 the following new
item:

``Part 9--Billing Requirements for Health Care Facilities and Providers

``901. Limitation on telehealth facility fees.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply with respect to telehealth services furnished on or after January
1, 2028.

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION.

    The Secretary of Labor shall implement the amendments made by this
Act by rulemaking.
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