Veterans Access to Online Treatment Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8005 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide veterans access to computerized cognitive behavioral therapy. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2020 Mr. GOLDEN (for himself and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide veterans access to computer- ized cognitive behavioral therapy. 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 ‘‘Veterans Access to 4 Online Treatment Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE VETERANS ACCESS 6 TO COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL 7 THERAPY. 8 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:48 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8005.IH H8005 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8005 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 210 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 2 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a 3 pilot program to treat eligible veterans suffering 4 from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress dis- 5 order, military sexual trauma, or substance use dis- 6 order, or a combination thereof, who are already re- 7 ceiving evidence-based therapy from the Department 8 of Veterans Affairs. 9 (2) COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL 10 THERAPY.—In carrying out the pilot program under 11 paragraph (1), the Secretary may use computerized 12 cognitive behavioral therapy to treat eligible vet- 13 erans. 14 (3) CONTINUATION OF PROGRAMS.—The Sec- 15 retary may— 16 (A) continue any cognitive behavioral ther- 17 apy programs in place on or before the date of 18 the enactment of this Act; and 19 (B) may use data or other observations 20 under any such programs in making the assess- 21 ment required under subsection (h)(1). 22 (b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is eligible to 23 participate in the pilot program under subsection (a) if 24 the veteran is enrolled in the system of patient enrollment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:48 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8005.IH H8005 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8005 IH of the Department of Veterans Affairs established and op- 1 erated under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States 2 Code. 3 (c) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 4 pilot program under subsection (a) for a two-year period 5 beginning on the commencement of the program. 6 (d) LOCATIONS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select 8 not fewer than three facilities of the Department of 9 Veterans Affairs at which to carry out the pilot pro- 10 gram under subsection (a). 11 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting facili- 12 ties under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 13 that— 14 (A) the locations are in geographically di- 15 verse areas; and 16 (B) not fewer than two facilities serve vet- 17 erans in rural or highly rural areas. 18 (e) ACCESS TO CHAT.—In carrying out the pilot pro- 19 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that 20 veterans participating in the pilot program have access via 21 chat to a mental health provider 24 hours per day, seven 22 days per week. 23 (f) PROMOTION OF VETERANS CRISIS LINE.—The 24 Secretary shall promote the availability of the Veterans 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:48 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8005.IH H8005 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8005 IH Crisis Line to veterans participating in the pilot program 1 under subsection (a). 2 (g) DEPARTMENT WEBSITE.—In implementing the 3 pilot program under subsection (a), the Secretary, to the 4 extent feasible, shall use a website of the Department of 5 Veterans Affairs to host the pilot program. 6 (h) REPORTS.— 7 (1) INTERIM REPORT.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 9 after the commencement of the pilot program 10 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit 11 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 12 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 13 of the House of Representatives a report on the 14 progress of the pilot program. 15 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 16 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 17 (i) The number of participants in the 18 pilot program and the number of persons 19 whose experience in any other online cog- 20 nitive behavioral therapy programs con- 21 ducted by the Department of Veterans Af- 22 fairs were used in the assessment under 23 clause (ii). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:48 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8005.IH H8005 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8005 IH (ii) An assessment of whether partici- 1 pation by a veteran in the pilot program 2 resulted in any changes in clinically rel- 3 evant endpoints for the veteran with re- 4 spect to the conditions specified in sub- 5 section (a)(1). 6 (iii) Any recommendations of the Sec- 7 retary with respect to extending or expand- 8 ing the pilot program. 9 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 10 after the termination of the pilot program under 11 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 12 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 13 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 14 Representatives a final report on the pilot program. 15 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘highly rural area’’ has the mean- 17 ing given that term in section 1703(i)(2)(B) of title 18 38, United States Code. 19 (2) The term ‘‘Veterans Crisis Line’’ means the 20 toll-free hotline for veterans established under sec- 21 tion 1720F(h) of title 38, United States Code. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:48 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8005.IH H8005 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS