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ACCESS Act

Introduced: January 27, 2021 Introduced by: Klobuchar, Amy Democratic · Minnesota See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Jan 27, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Jan 27, 2021

Introduced in Senate

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Advancing Connectivity during the Coronavirus to Ensure Support for Seniors Act or the ACCESS Act

This bill provides funding to increase access to telehealth services and virtual visits in skilled and other nursing facilities during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. The bill designates the funding as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits.

Specifically, the bill provides additional funding for FY2021, to remain available through FY2022, to the Telehealth Resource Center Program to address barriers to telehealth faced by skilled and other nursing facilities. The Office for the Advancement of Telehealth within the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the Health Resources and Services Administration manages this program.

In addition, the bill provides funding for FY2021, to remain available through one month after the emergency period ends, to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for grants to nursing facilities to support virtual visits for residents during the COVID-19 emergency. HHS must develop relevant guidance for these grants within 15 days. HHS must also coordinate with the Federal Communications Commission on these grants.

What's happening now January 27, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Committees of jurisdiction 1