A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT making changes related to the procurement of information technology goods and services to support public and private libraries and providing for the provision of health care services via telemedicine.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 8.14 of S.L. 2015‑241 reads as rewritten:
"COLLABORATIVE PROCUREMENT
…
"SECTION 8.14.(b)  The Department of Public Instruction shall collaborate with the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation of North Carolina State University to implement public school cooperative purchasing agreements for the procurement of information technology goods and services to support public schools. For purposes of this section, the phrase "public school cooperative purchasing agreement" means an agreement implemented pursuant to this section and available for local school administrative units, regional schools, charter schools, or some combination thereof, and public and private libraries and regional library systems, providing for collaborative or collective purchases of information technology goods and services in order to leverage economies of scale and to reduce costs.
"SECTION 8.14.(c)  Each public school cooperative purchasing agreement shall be based on a defined statewide information technology need to support education in the public schools and public libraries. Each public school cooperative purchasing agreement shall allow for equal access to technology tools and services and shall provide a standard competitive cost throughout North Carolina for each tool or service. Public school cooperative purchasing agreements shall follow State information technology procurement laws, rules, and procedures.
…."
SECTION 2.  Article 50 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read as follows:
"§ 58‑50‑305.  Coverage for telemedicine services.
(a)	The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Health benefit plan. – As defined in G.S. 58‑3‑167(a)(1).
(2)	Telemedicine. – Two‑way, real‑time interactive communication between a patient and physician or practitioner at a distant site. The term includes the use of interactive telecommunications equipment that includes, at a minimum, audio and video equipment.
(b)	Every health benefit plan shall provide coverage for health care services that are provided via telemedicine if the health care service would be covered were it provided through in‑person consultation or in‑person delivery of services between an insured and a health care provider. A health benefit plan may not exclude services provided via telemedicine from coverage under the plan solely because the service is not provided through an in‑person consultation or in‑person delivery of services."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2017.