S.Amdt. 2627

SA 2627. Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Daines, and Ms. McSally)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2499
proposed by Mr. McConnell to the bill S. 178, to condemn gross human
rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, and calling for
an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment of these
communities inside and outside China; which was ordered to lie on the
table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. PROMOTING QUALITY OF LIFE FOR RESIDENTS OF LONG-TERM
CARE FACILITIES DURING THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY
PERIOD.

(a) In General.--Sections 1819(c)(3) and 1919(c)(3) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3(c)(3), 1396r(c)(3))
are each amended--
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(F) provide for the use by residents of a
telecommunications device and the Internet, including
assistance from facility staff in the use of such technology,
if necessary or requested by the resident or the resident's
representative, or the long-term care ombudsman of a State,
to support telecommunication during the emergency period
described in section 1135(g)(1)(B)(relating to the 2019 Novel
Coronavirus), such as audio, visual, text communication,
videoconference, and two-way audio/video options, by
residents of such facility with family members and other
individuals.''.
(b) Access During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Period.--
(1) Long-term care facilities.--Not later than 30 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
take steps necessary to ensure that the residents of each
participating provider and of other long-term care facilities
designated by the Secretary have access to the devices,
Internet, and assistance necessary to support the
televisitation practices described in sections 1819(c)(3)(F)
and 1919(c)(3)(F) of the Social Security Act, as added by
subsection (a), during the COVID-19 public health emergency
period.
(2) Notification requirements.--In carrying out the
amendments made by subsection (a) and paragraph (1) of this
subsection, the Secretary shall address--
(A) notification to residents, representatives and family
members of residents, and the long-term care ombudsman of
each State, of access to such televisitation;
(B) how participating providers will ensure or enable
installation and access to a device purchased by, or for the
use or benefit of, individual residents; and
(C) operational issues or other barriers to ensure timely
resident access to the deployment of such televisitation.
(c) Funding.--
(1) Establishment of televisitation fund.--There is
established in the Treasury of the United States a fund, to
be known as the ``Televisitation Fund'' (referred to in this
section as the ``Fund''), to be administered by the
Secretary.
(2) Transfers.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this
Act and ending on September 30, 2022, and in a manner
consistent with section 3302(b) of title 31, there shall be
transferred to the Fund from the General Fund of the
Treasury, an amount that is not less than--
(A) $50,000,000, if such sums are appropriated by Congress
for the Telehealth Resource Center of the Federal Office of
Rural Health Policy of the Office for the Advancement of
Telehealth to promote the development of televisitation for
participating providers, which shall remain available through
September 30, 2021; or
(B) in the event that appropriated funds are not available
under subparagraph (A), 30 percent of the amount of
assessments collected under section 1128A of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a), which shall remain
available until expended.
(3) Use of funds.--
(A) In general.--From amounts in the Fund, in addition to
any other amounts available, and without further
appropriation, the Secretary shall, during each of fiscal
years 2020 and 2021, use amounts available in the Fund to
award televisitation grants to participating providers and,
to the extent appropriated funding is available, other long-
term care facilities designated by the Secretary to receive
such grants. The Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund only
to supplement the funds that would, in the absence of such
Federal funds, be made available from other Federal, State,
and local sources to promote televisitation, and not to
supplant such funds.
(B) Grants.--Of the amounts in the Fund used under
subparagraph (A), not less than $25,000,000, if such amounts
are available in the Fund during fiscal year 2020 or 2021,
shall be used for grants to address technical, service
delivery, operational, or other related barriers to the
timely deployment of televisitation in participating
providers, including with respect to addressing inadequate
access to broadband and necessary staff to facilitate the use
of televisitation, telecommunications devices, or other items
or services as necessary to implement such televisitation.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) COVID-19 public health emergency period.--The term
``COVID-19 public health emergency period'' means the period
beginning on the first day of the emergency period defined in
paragraph (1)(B) of section 1135(g) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)) and ending on the last day of the
calendar quarter in which the last day of such emergency
period occurs.
(2) Long-term care facility.--The term ``long-term care
facility'' has the meaning given that term in section
2011(15) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397j(15)).
(3) Nursing facility.--The term ``nursing facility'' has
the meaning given that term in section 1919(a) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r(a)).
(4) Participating provider.--The term ``participating
provider'' means a skilled nursing facility or a nursing
facility that has been assigned a national provider
identifier number by the Secretary and has executed an
agreement to participate in the Medicare program established
under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395
et seq.) or the Medicaid program established under title XIX
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
(6) Skilled nursing facility.--The term ``skilled nursing
facility'' has the meaning given that term in section 1819(a)
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3(a)).
(7) State.--Except as otherwise provided, the term
``State'' has the meaning given such term for purposes of
title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et
seq.).
(8) Televisitation.--The term ``televisitation'' means
telecommunication, including but not limited to audio,
visual, text communication, video conference, and two-way
audio/video options, by residents of a participating provider
with other individuals.
______