H.R. 3032 — Expanding Remote Monitoring Access Act

This section states congressional findings on the benefits of remote patient monitoring for improving patient health outcomes and reducing health care costs, including VA data showing a 53% decrease in bed days of care and 33% decrease in hospital admissions for enrolled veterans. The findings further identify clinical scenarios (e.g., sleep apnea diagnosis, narcotic pain management, diabetes weight monitoring) where Medicare's current requirement of 16 days of patient data over a 30-day period to bill for such services is not medically necessary, note CMS's interim reduction to two days for COVID-19 patients in 2021 and agreement on the need for broader flexibility, and conclude that a two-day minimum would enable coverage of beneficial services without precluding acuity-based reimbursement.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure Medicare payment for remote monitoring services—remote physiologic monitoring (RPM; i.e., non-face-to-face monitoring of physiologic data to manage patient treatment plans) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM; i.e., monitoring of non-physiologic data via medical devices)—for a minimum of 2 days of data collection over a 30-day period (from the typical 16 days), during the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment and regardless of COVID-19 diagnosis or suspicion. The section further directs the Secretary, one year after enactment and after consulting specified entities (e.g., HHS agencies including its Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs, physicians and other clinicians, hospitals and health systems, medical organizations, technology developers, beneficiary advocates, the American Medical Association's CPT Editorial Panel, and commercial payers), to report to Congress on (1) prior experience with the 2-day minimum payment threshold; (2) reimbursement model recommendations accounting for patient acuity and service costs, including differential payments for periods with fewer than or more than 16 days of data; (3) place-of-service and supervision requirements for non-clinical staff reviewing patient data; and (4) estimated savings from earlier interventions and reduced hospitalizations.