Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2519 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award grants to im- plement innovative approaches to securing prompt access to appropriate follow-on care for individuals who experi- ence an acute mental health episode and present for care in an emergency department, and for other pur- poses. VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2519.RFS H2519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2519 RFS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Mental 4 Health Access from the Emergency Department Act of 5 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. SECURING APPROPRIATE FOLLOW-ON CARE FOR 7 ACUTE MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS AFTER AN 8 EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ENCOUNTER. 9 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 10 ing after section 520J of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31) 11 the following new section: 12 ‘‘SEC. 520J–1. SECURING APPROPRIATE FOLLOW-ON CARE 13 FOR ACUTE MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS AFTER 14 AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ENCOUNTER. 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 16 on a competitive basis to qualifying health providers to 17 implement innovative approaches to securing prompt ac- 18 cess to appropriate follow-on care for individuals who ex- 19 perience an acute mental health episode and present for 20 care in an emergency department. 21 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In this section, 22 the term ‘qualifying health provider’ means a health care 23 facility licensed under applicable law that— 24 ‘‘(1) has an emergency department; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2519.RFS H2519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2519 RFS ‘‘(2) is staffed by medical personnel (such as 1 emergency physicians, psychiatrists, psychiatric reg- 2 istered nurses, mental health technicians, clinical so- 3 cial workers, psychologists, and therapists) capable 4 of providing treatment focused on stabilizing acute 5 mental health conditions and assisting patients to 6 access resources to continue treatment in the least 7 restrictive appropriate setting; and 8 ‘‘(3) has arrangements in place with other pro- 9 viders of care that can provide a full range of medi- 10 cally appropriate, evidence-based services for the 11 treatment of acute mental health episodes. 12 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A qualifying health provider 13 receiving funds under this section shall use such funds to 14 create, support, or expand programs or projects intended 15 to assist individuals who are treated at the provider’s 16 emergency department for acute mental health episodes 17 and to expeditiously transition such individuals to an ap- 18 propriate facility or setting for follow-on care. Such use 19 of funds may support the following: 20 ‘‘(1) Expediting placement in appropriate facili- 21 ties through activities such as expanded coordination 22 with regional service providers, assessment, peer 23 navigators, bed availability tracking and manage- 24 ment, transfer protocol development, networking in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2519.RFS H2519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2519 RFS frastructure development, and transportation serv- 1 ices. 2 ‘‘(2) Increasing the supply of inpatient psy- 3 chiatric beds and alternative care settings such as 4 regional emergency psychiatric facilities. 5 ‘‘(3) Use of alternative approaches to providing 6 psychiatric care in the emergency department set- 7 ting, including through tele-psychiatric support and 8 other remote psychiatric consultation, implementa- 9 tion of peak period crisis clinics, or creation of psy- 10 chiatric emergency service units. 11 ‘‘(4) Use of approaches that include proactive 12 followup such as telephone check-ins, telemedicine, 13 or other technology-based outreach to individuals 14 during the period of transition. 15 ‘‘(5) Such other activities as are determined by 16 the Secretary to be appropriate, consistent with sub- 17 section (a). 18 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—A qualifying health provider de- 19 siring a grant under this section shall prepare and submit 20 an application to the Secretary at such time and in such 21 manner as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the 22 application shall include the following: 23 ‘‘(1) A description of identified need for acute 24 mental health services in the provider’s service area. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2519.RFS H2519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2519 RFS ‘‘(2) A description of the existing efforts of the 1 provider to meet the need for acute mental health 2 services in the service area, and identified gaps in 3 the provision of such services. 4 ‘‘(3) A description of the proposed use of funds 5 to meet the need and gaps identified pursuant to 6 paragraph (2). 7 ‘‘(4) A description of how the provider will co- 8 ordinate efforts with Federal, State, local, and pri- 9 vate entities within the service area. 10 ‘‘(5) A description of program objectives, how 11 the objectives are proposed to be met, and how the 12 provider will evaluate outcomes relative to objectives. 13 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 14 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 15 priated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 16 2025.’’. 17 Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2519.RFS H2519 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS