TICK Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3073 To provide assistance to combat the escalating burden of Lyme disease and other tick and vector-borne diseases and disorders. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 3, 2019 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. PETERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To provide assistance to combat the escalating burden of Lyme disease and other tick and vector-borne diseases and disorders. 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 ‘‘Ticks: Identify, Con- 4 trol, and Knockout Act’’ or the ‘‘TICK Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF OVERSIGHT AND COORDINATION FOR 6 VECTOR-BORNE DISEASE. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 8 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 9 retary’’) shall establish in the Office of the Secretary an 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3073 IH Office of Oversight and Coordination for Vector-Borne 1 Diseases (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Office’’), to be 2 headed by a director to be appointed by the Secretary. 3 (b) DUTIES OF THE OFFICE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 5 shall— 6 (A) oversee the creation and maintenance 7 of a national strategy to address Lyme disease, 8 and other tick and vector-borne diseases as pro- 9 vided for in paragraph (2); and 10 (B) oversee and coordinate Lyme disease 11 and other tick and vector-borne disease and dis- 12 order programs and activities across the agen- 13 cies and offices of the Department of Health 14 and Human Services and other Federal agen- 15 cies outside of the Department of Health and 16 Human Services, as appropriate. 17 (2) NATIONAL STRATEGY.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of- 19 fice shall provide for the conduct of an annual 20 assessment of the progress of the United States 21 in preparing for the escalating burden of Lyme 22 disease and other tick and vector-borne diseases 23 and disorders, including an assessment of all 24 Federally funded programs and activities re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3073 IH lated to surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, edu- 1 cation, or prevention, as well as implementation 2 steps, and recommendations for priority actions, 3 with appropriate benchmarks to measure 4 progress, based on the assessment. 5 (B) NON-FEDERAL PERSPECTIVES.—In de- 6 veloping the strategy under subparagraph (A), 7 and maintaining it, the Director shall consult 8 with non-Federal individuals with appropriate 9 expertise, which may include— 10 (i) epidemiologists with experience in 11 surveillance, treatment, education, or pre- 12 vention of vector-borne diseases; 13 (ii) representatives of national patient 14 advocacy and research organizations that 15 focus on vector-borne diseases, and those 16 that focus specifically on tick-borne disease 17 and have demonstrated experience in re- 18 search, data collection, or patient access to 19 care; 20 (iii) health information technology ex- 21 perts or other information management 22 specialists; 23 (iv) clinicians, entomologists, vector- 24 management professionals, integrated pest 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3073 IH management professionals, public health 1 professionals, and others with expertise in 2 vector-borne disease, including Lyme dis- 3 ease or other tick-borne diseases or dis- 4 orders; and 5 (v) research scientists with experience 6 conducting translational research or uti- 7 lizing surveillance systems for scientific re- 8 search purposes. 9 (c) OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE.—In carrying out 10 subsection (b), the Director of the Office shall facilitate 11 and work to ensure the accomplishment of the following 12 activities: 13 (1) Expansion and enhancement of epidemiolog- 14 ical research and basic, translational, and clinical bi- 15 ological and biomedical research. 16 (2) Expansion and improvement of tick surveil- 17 lance, linking tick surveillance to surveillance of 18 Lyme disease, and reporting of Lyme disease and 19 other tick- and vector-borne diseases, including co- 20 infections with agents of more than one tick or vec- 21 tor-borne diseases. 22 (3) Development of effective diagnostic tests to 23 accurately and timely diagnose Lyme disease and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3073 IH other tick- and vector-borne diseases, including di- 1 rect detention tests. 2 (4) Development of treatments to cure or im- 3 prove the lives of those who are infected with Lyme 4 disease or other tick-and vector-borne diseases or 5 who suffer from a tick-induced disorder (such as tick 6 PIM programs). 7 (5) Address the quality of patient care, treat- 8 ment affordability, and public awareness of Lyme 9 disease and other tick or vector-borne diseases. 10 (6) Design and conduct clinical trials of suffi- 11 cient size and duration to support clinical rec- 12 ommendations. 13 (7) Systematic documentation of the experi- 14 ences of health care professionals in diagnosing and 15 treating tick- and vector-borne disease, including di- 16 agnostic and treatment outcomes. 17 (8) Development and maintenance of one or 18 more registries of patients and their experiences re- 19 lating to exposure to, diagnosis for, and treatment 20 of tick- and vector-borne disease, including out- 21 comes, such that the confidentiality and safety of 22 patient data is protected. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3073 IH (9) Access to data and enable emerging tech- 1 nologies to improve patient care, sharing data with 2 researchers and care providers. 3 (10) Coordination with other Federal depart- 4 ments to address tick- and other vector-borne dis- 5 eases including the Department of Defense, the De- 6 partment of Agriculture, the Environmental Protec- 7 tion Agency, the Department of Interior, and the 8 Department of Homeland Security. 9 (11) Coordination with the Tick-Borne Disease 10 Working Group established under section 2062 of 11 the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 284s) to de- 12 velop and implement recommendations. 13 (12) Coordination with international bodies to 14 integrate and inform the fight against Lyme disease, 15 and other tick- and vector-borne diseases globally. 16 SEC. 3. REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN TICK AND 17 VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 19 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 20 Prevention and the heads of other agencies as appropriate, 21 shall award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 22 to eligible entities (such as institutions of higher edu- 23 cation, State, tribal, and local health departments, asso- 24 ciations, or other appropriate entities) for the establish- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3073 IH ment or support of Regional Centers of Excellence in Tick 1 and Vector-Borne Diseases. Such Regional Centers shall 2 be designed to address Lyme disease and other tick and 3 vector-borne diseases by— 4 (1) building collaboration between academia 5 and public health agencies for surveillance, preven- 6 tion and response to Lyme disease and other tick 7 and vector-borne diseases; 8 (2) providing training for public health ento- 9 mologists to deal with Lyme disease and other tick 10 and vector-borne diseases; and 11 (3) conducting applied research to develop and 12 validate prevention and control tools and methods, 13 and to anticipate and respond to outbreaks of Lyme 14 disease and other tick and vector-borne diseases. 15 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 16 contract, or cooperative agreement under this section, an 17 entity shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an appli- 18 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 19 agreements and information as the Secretary may require, 20 including a description of how the entity will— 21 (1) coordinate, as applicable, with existing Fed- 22 eral, State, and tribal programs related to Lyme dis- 23 ease and other vector-borne diseases; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3073 IH (2) examine, evaluate, and promote evidence- 1 based interventions for individuals with Lyme dis- 2 ease and other tick- and vector-borne diseases, in- 3 cluding those in rural and underserved populations, 4 and those who provide care for such individuals; and 5 (3) prioritize activities relating to— 6 (A) expanding efforts, as appropriate, to 7 implement evidence-based practices to address 8 Lyme disease and other tick- and vector-borne 9 diseases, including through the training of 10 State, local, and tribal public health officials 11 and other health professionals on such prac- 12 tices; 13 (B) supporting surveillance of vectors, and 14 early detection and diagnosis of Lyme and 15 other tick- and vector-borne diseases, including 16 improving the quality and reliability of diag- 17 nostic tools at all stages of disease progression, 18 and developing a Lyme disease test capable of 19 distinguishing between past and active infec- 20 tions; 21 (C) improving the safety and efficacy of 22 any new, renewed, or modified human vaccine 23 for Lyme disease, other tick- and vector-borne 24 diseases, or a combination of such diseases; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3073 IH (D) developing a standardized screening 1 protocol for Lyme disease and other tick- and 2 vector-borne diseases; 3 (E) enhancing studies and activities on 4 tick biology, disease ecology, and surveillance, 5 and tick management; and 6 (F) supporting other relevant activities 7 identified by the Secretary or the Director of 8 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 as appropriate. 10 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants, con- 11 tracts, and cooperative agreements under this section, the 12 Secretary shall consider, among other factors, whether the 13 entity— 14 (1) provides services to rural areas or other un- 15 derserved populations; 16 (2) is able to build on an existing infrastructure 17 of services and public health research; 18 (3) is located in an area with a high prevalence, 19 or in any area predicted to have a high prevalence, 20 of Lyme disease or other tick- and vector-borne dis- 21 eases; and 22 (4) has experience with conducting research re- 23 lated to Lyme disease and other tick- and vector- 24 borne diseases. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3073 IH (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 1 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 2 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 3 from 2021 through 2026. Amounts appropriated shall be 4 allocated under this section to diseases in a manner that 5 proportionately matches the disease burden of those dis- 6 eases in the United States, which shall be reassessed and 7 adjusted annually. 8 SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH THE CENTERS 9 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 11 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 12 Prevention and the heads of other agencies, as appro- 13 priate, shall enter into cooperative agreements between the 14 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health de- 15 partments of States, political subdivisions of States, and 16 Indian tribes and tribal organizations, to address Lyme 17 Disease and other tick- and vector-borne diseases, and to 18 support the development and implementation of evidence- 19 based research, interventions, and treatment with respect 20 to— 21 (1) educating and informing the public, based 22 on evidence-based public health research and data, 23 about Lyme Disease and other vector-borne diseases; 24 (2) supporting early detection and diagnosis; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3073 IH (3) supporting prevention; 1 (4) improving treatment; 2 (5) supporting care planning and management 3 for individuals with Lyme disease and other tick- 4 and vector-borne diseases; and 5 (6) supporting other relevant activities identi- 6 fied by the Secretary or the Director of the Centers 7 for Disease Control and Prevention, as appropriate. 8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to enter into a coop- 9 erative agreement under this section, an entity described 10 in subsection (a) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 11 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 12 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 13 cluding a plan that describes— 14 (1) how the applicant proposes to develop or ex- 15 pand programs to educate individuals through part- 16 nership engagement, workforce development, guid- 17 ance and support for programmatic efforts, and 18 evaluation with respect to Lyme disease and other 19 tick- or vector-borne diseases, and how the applicant 20 proposes to support other relevant activities identi- 21 fied by the Secretary or the Director of the Centers 22 for Disease Control and Prevention, as appropriate; 23 (2) the manner in which the applicant will co- 24 ordinate with Federal, tribal, and State programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3073.IH H3073 SSpencer on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3073 IH related to Lyme Disease and other vector-borne dis- 1 eases, and appropriate State, tribal, and local agen- 2 cies, as well as other relevant public and private or- 3 ganizations or agencies; and 4 (3) the manner in which the applicant will 5 evaluate the effectiveness of any program carried out 6 under the cooperative agreement. 7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIO [Text truncated for display. 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