To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit health care providers and facilities from imposing certain facility fees for telehealth.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Fair Telehealth Billing Act of 2024 bans health care providers and facilities from charging a separate facility fee on top of professional service fees for telehealth visits, when the provider is already authorized to bill independently for those services. It amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and establishes civil penalties of up to \,000 per violation, enforced by the Secretary of Labor.
Who Benefits and How
Patients using telehealth services benefit from lower out-of-pocket costs, as they will no longer be charged facility fees for virtual appointments where no physical facility is used. Employer-sponsored health plan participants covered under ERISA are the primary beneficiaries, as the bill specifically amends that statute.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Hospitals and health systems that currently charge facility fees for telehealth visits lose a revenue stream. Health care providers and facilities face civil penalties of up to \,000 per violation if they continue charging prohibited facility fees after the law takes effect on January 1, 2026.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits separate facility fees for telehealth when the provider can bill independently for professional services
- Civil monetary penalty of up to \,000 per violation, enforced by the Secretary of Labor
- Applies to ERISA-covered employer-sponsored health plans
- Takes effect for telehealth services furnished on or after January 1, 2026
- Secretary of Labor must implement through rulemaking
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Prohibits health care providers and facilities from charging separate facility fees for telehealth services when the provider can independently bill for the professional services rendered.
Key Policy Areas
Healthcare, Telehealth, Consumer Protection
Primary Purpose
Prohibits health care providers and facilities from charging separate facility fees for telehealth services when the provider can independently bill for the professional services rendered.
Policy Domains
Whole Bill
Identified Gains
- Telehealth Patients
- ERISA-Covered Health Plan Participants
Identified Costs
- Hospitals and Health Systems
- Health Care Providers Charging Facility Fees
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Hayes introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Healthcare facilities billing facility fees for telehealth, Hospitals and health systems billing telehealth facility fees
ERISA plan participants, Patients receiving telehealth services
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology