TREAT PTSD Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3023 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to furnish stellate ganglion block to veterans and members of the Armed Forces with post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Mr. PERRY (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Mr. CRENSHAW, and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to furnish stellate ganglion block to veterans and members of the Armed Forces with post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Treatment and Relief 4 through Emerging and Accessible Therapy for PTSD Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘TREAT PTSD Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3023.IH H3023 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3023 IH SEC. 2. PROVISION OF STELLATE GANGLION BLOCK TO 1 VETERANS AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 2 FORCES WITH POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS- 3 ORDER. 4 (a) PROVISION TO VETERANS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add- 7 ing at the end the following new section: 8 ‘‘§ 1720K. Provision of stellate ganglion block for cer- 9 tain veterans 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall furnish stel- 11 late ganglion block to any veteran who— 12 ‘‘(1) is enrolled in the patient enrollment sys- 13 tem under section 1705 of this title; 14 ‘‘(2) has been diagnosed with post-traumatic 15 stress disorder; and 16 ‘‘(3) has elected to receive stellate ganglion 17 block after being informed by a qualified health care 18 provider of the risks and benefits of stellate ganglion 19 block. 20 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF CARE.—The Secretary may fur- 21 nish stellate ganglion block under subsection (a) through 22 a medical facility of the Department or through a health 23 care provider specified in section 1703(c) of this title.’’. 24 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 25 tents at the beginning of chapter 17 of title 38, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3023.IH H3023 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3023 IH United States Code, is amended by inserting after 1 the item relating to section 1720J the following new 2 item: 3 ‘‘1720K. Provision of stellate ganglion block for certain veterans.’’. (b) PROVISION TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 4 FORCES.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, 6 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 7 section 1074o the following new section: 8 ‘‘§ 1074p. Provision of stellate ganglion block for cer- 9 tain members 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall furnish stel- 11 late ganglion block to any member of the Armed Forces 12 (including the reserve components) who is performing or 13 has performed active service and who— 14 ‘‘(1) is enrolled in the TRICARE program 15 under chapter 55 of this title; 16 ‘‘(2) has been diagnosed with post-traumatic 17 stress disorder; and 18 ‘‘(3) has elected to receive stellate ganglion 19 block after being informed by a qualified health care 20 provider of the risks and benefits of stellate ganglion 21 block. 22 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF CARE.—The Secretary may fur- 23 nish stellate ganglion block under subsection (a) through 24 a medical facility of the Department or through a qualified 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3023.IH H3023 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3023 IH health care provider participating in a Department admin- 1 istered TRICARE health insurance program.’’. 2 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 3 tents at the beginning of chapter 55 of title 10, 4 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 5 the item relating to section 1074o the following new 6 item: 7 ‘‘1074p. Provision of stellate ganglion block for certain members.’’. (c) UPDATE OF JOINT CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDE- 8 LINE.— 9 (1) UPDATE OF GUIDELINE.—Not later than 10 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 12 of Defense shall update the guideline published 13 jointly by the Secretaries and titled the ‘‘VA/DOD 14 Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the Manage- 15 ment of PTSD’’ (or such successor guideline) to en- 16 sure the guideline— 17 (A) reflects the availability of stellate gan- 18 glion block as a therapy option; and 19 (B) includes information on the clinical in- 20 dicators and contraindicators for such therapy 21 option. 22 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon updating the guide- 23 line under paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall notify 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3023.IH H3023 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3023 IH the appropriate congressional committees of such 1 update. 2 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 3 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘ap- 4 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 5 (A) the congressional defense committees 6 (as such term is defined in section 101 of title 7 10, United States Code); and 8 (B) the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 9 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date that 12 is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3023.IH H3023 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB