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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