ASSIST Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3761 To amend the Social Security Act to provide for an increased Federal medical assistance percentage for State expenditures on certain behavioral health services furnished under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 31, 2023 Ms. CASTOR of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 amend the Social Security Act to provide for an increased Federal medical assistance percentage for State expendi- tures on certain behavioral health services furnished under the Medicaid program, 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 ‘‘Advancing Student 4 Services In Schools Today Act’’ or the ‘‘ASSIST Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3761 IH SEC. 2. INCREASING THE APPLICABLE FMAP FOR STATE 1 EXPENDITURES ATTRIBUTABLE TO CERTAIN 2 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. 3 Section 1905 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 4 1396d) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and (ii)’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘(ii), and (jj)’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 8 section: 9 ‘‘(jj) INCREASED FMAP FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE 10 FOR SERVICES FURNISHED BY MENTAL HEALTH AND 11 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER CARE PROVIDERS IN CER- 12 TAIN SCHOOL-BASED SETTINGS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any pre- 14 ceding provision of this section, with respect to State 15 expenditures for medical assistance consisting of 16 services provided by a mental health and substance 17 use disorder care provider (as defined in section 3 18 of the Advancing Student Services In Schools Today 19 Act) and furnished at a school or at a school-based 20 health center (as defined in section 399Z–1(a)(3) of 21 the Public Health Service Act) on or after the first 22 day of the first calendar quarter beginning on or 23 after the date that is 12 months after the date of 24 the enactment of this subsection, the Federal med- 25 ical assistance percentage otherwise determined 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3761 IH under subsection (b) shall, subject to paragraph (2), 1 be equal to 90 percent. 2 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF HIGHER MATCH.—Para- 3 graph (1) shall not apply in the case of State ex- 4 penditures described in such paragraph if applica- 5 tion of such paragraph would result in a lower Fed- 6 eral medical assistance percentage for such expendi- 7 tures than would otherwise apply without application 8 of such paragraph. 9 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION OF EXPENDITURES FROM TER- 10 RITORIAL CAP.—Any payment made to a territory 11 for expenditures for medical assistance described in 12 paragraph (1) that are subject to the Federal med- 13 ical assistance percentage specified under such para- 14 graph shall not be taken into account for purposes 15 of applying payment limits under subsections (f) and 16 (g) of section 1108 to the extent that such payment 17 exceeds the amount of the payment that would have 18 been made to the territory for such expenditures 19 without regard to this subsection.’’. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3761 IH SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH AND 1 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER CARE PRO- 2 VIDERS IN SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-BASED 3 HEALTH CENTERS. 4 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Not later than 12 months 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 6 Health and Human Services (referred to in this section 7 as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in consultation with the Adminis- 8 trator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 9 and the Secretary of Education, shall award grants, con- 10 tracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to in- 11 crease the number of mental health and substance use dis- 12 order care providers in schools and school-based health 13 centers served by such entities. 14 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking an 15 award under this section shall submit an application to 16 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con- 17 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 18 cluding a description of— 19 (1) the mental health and substance use dis- 20 order needs of the student population served by the 21 eligible entity; and 22 (2) with respect to the student population 23 served by the eligible entity, how the eligible entity 24 will ensure that the mental health and substance use 25 disorder care providers supported by the eligible en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3761 IH tity, and the services administered by such pro- 1 viders, are culturally competent and linguistically 2 appropriate. 3 (c) RESTRICTION.—No funds made available through 4 an award under this section may be used for a threat as- 5 sessment team. 6 (d) REPORTING.— 7 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORTING.—Eligible 8 entities receiving an award under this section shall 9 submit an annual report to the Secretary accom- 10 panied by such information as the Secretary may re- 11 quire, including— 12 (A) the number of mental health and sub- 13 stance use disorder care providers working at 14 the schools or school-based health centers 15 served by the eligible entity, and the number of 16 such providers supported through the award; 17 (B) the types of services provided by the 18 mental health and substance use disorder care 19 providers and the efficacy of such services; 20 (C) the practices used by the schools or 21 school-based health centers served by the eligi- 22 ble entity to recruit and retain mental health 23 and substance use disorder care providers; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3761 IH (D) the rates of retention of mental health 1 and substance use disorder care providers at 2 the school or school-based health center. 3 (2) SECRETARY.—Not later than 18 months 4 after the date of enactment of this section, and every 5 5 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 6 Congress a report on the effectiveness of the awards 7 under this section. 8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 10 ty’’ means— 11 (A) a local educational agency, as defined 12 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 14 7801); 15 (B) an institution of higher education, as 16 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); 18 (C) a school operated by the Bureau of In- 19 dian Affairs; or 20 (D) a school-based health center, as de- 21 fined in section 399Z–1(a)(3) of the Public 22 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280h–5(a)(3)). 23 (2) MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE 24 DISORDER CARE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘mental 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3761 IH health and substance use disorder care provider’’ 1 means an individual who is licensed or credentialed 2 to provide mental health and substance use disorder 3 services, including— 4 (A) a school counselor; 5 (B) a school psychologist or any other psy- 6 chologist; 7 (C) a psychiatrist who specializes in child 8 or adolescent psychiatry; 9 (D) a school social worker; 10 (E) a peer support specialist or peer recov- 11 ery coach; 12 (F) a licensed clinical social worker; 13 (G) an addiction medicine specialist; and 14 (H) other providers, as the Secretary de- 15 termines appropriate. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3761.IH H3761 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS