119-hr2623

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2623 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2623

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to designate medical facilities of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs as innovative therapies centers of excellence, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 3, 2025

Mr. Correa (for himself, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Khanna, and Mr. 
 Luttrell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to designate medical facilities of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs as innovative therapies centers of excellence, and for 
 other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Innovative Therapies Centers of 
Excellence Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS DESIGNATION OF INNOVATIVE 
 THERAPIES CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 73 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after 

section 7330D the following new section:
``

Sec. 7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence
 ``

    (a) Establishment of Centers.--

    (1) The Secretary, upon the 
recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, shall designate not 
less than five Department medical facilities as the locations for 
innovative therapies centers of excellence.
 ``

    (2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for such 
purpose, the Secretary shall establish and operate innovative therapies 
centers of excellence at the locations designated pursuant to paragraph

    (1) .
 ``

    (b) Geographic Distribution of Facilities.--In designating 
Department medical facilities as centers of excellence under subsection

    (a) , the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for 
Health, shall assure appropriate geographic distribution of such 
facilities.
 ``
            (c) Requirements for Designation.--

    (1) The Secretary may not 
designate a Department medical facility as a location for a center 
under subsection

    (a) unless the peer review panel established under 
subsection
            (d) has determined under that subsection that the proposal 
submitted by such facility as a location for a new center under 
subsection

    (a) is among those proposals that meet the highest 
competitive standards of scientific and clinical merit.
 ``

    (2) The Secretary may not designate a Department medical facility 
as a location for a center under subsection

    (a) unless the Secretary, 
upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, determines 
that the facility has, or may reasonably be anticipated to develop, 
each of the following:
 ``
        (A) An arrangement with an--
 ``
            (i) accredited medical school that provides 
 education and training in innovative therapies and with 
 which the Department medical facility is affiliated 
 under which residents receive education and training in 
 use of innovative therapies to treat covered 
 conditions;
 ``
            (ii) an accredited school of psychiatry; and
 ``
            (iii) an accredited school of social work.
 ``
        (B) The ability to attract the participation of 
 scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity in 
 medical research efforts.
 ``
            (C) An advisory committee composed of veterans and 
 appropriate medical and research representatives of the 
 Department medical facility and of the affiliated school or 
 schools to advise the directors of such facility and such 
 center on policy matters pertaining to the activities of the 
 center during the period of the operation of such center.
 ``
            (D) The capability to conduct effectively evaluations of 
 the activities of such center.
 ``
        (E) The capability to coordinate (as part of an 
 integrated national system) education, clinical, and research 
 activities within all facilities with such centers.
 ``
        (F) The capability to jointly develop a consortium of 
 providers with interest in treating covered conditions with 
 innovative therapies at Department facilities without such 
 centers in order to ensure better access to state-of-the-art 
 diagnosis, care, and education for innovative therapies 
 throughout the medical system of the Department.
 ``
        (G) The capability to develop a national repository in 
 the medical system of the Department for the collection of data 
 on health services delivered to veterans seeking innovative 
 therapies.
 ``
            (d) Peer Review Panel.--

    (1) The Under Secretary for Health shall 
establish a panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of 
proposals that are submitted to the Secretary for the establishment of 
centers under this section.
 ``

    (2)
        (A) The membership of the panel shall consist of experts in 
innovative therapies.
 ``
        (B) Members of the panel shall serve for a period of no longer 
than two years, except as specified in subparagraph
            (C) .
 ``
            (C) Of the members first appointed to the panel, one half shall 
be appointed for a period of three years and one half shall be 
appointed for a period of two years, as designated by the Under 
Secretary at the time of appointment.
 ``

    (3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted to the panel 
by the Under Secretary and shall submit its views on the relative 
scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal to the Under 
Secretary.
 ``

    (4) The panel shall not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5.
 ``

    (e) Annual Report.--Not later than two years after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Under 
Secretary of Health shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs 
of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the activities 
of the centers of excellence designated under this section during the 
period covered by the report. Each such report shall include--
 ``

    (1) a summary of activities carried out by the centers 
 during such period;
 ``

    (2) an identification of key findings made at such 
 centers during such period;
 ``

    (3) recommendations to improve the delivery of innovative 
 therapies to veterans; and
 ``

    (4) such other matters as the Under Secretary determines 
 relevant.
 ``

    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $30,000,000 for each fiscal year for the support of the 
research and education activities of the centers established pursuant 
to subsection

    (a) . The Under Secretary for Health shall allocate to 
such centers from other funds appropriated generally for the Department 
medical services account and medical and prosthetics research account, 
as appropriate, such amounts as the Under Secretary for Health 
determines appropriate.
 ``

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section;
 ``

    (1) The term `covered condition' means any of the 
 following:
 ``
        (A) Anxiety.
 ``
        (B) Bipolar disorder.
 ``
            (C) Chronic pain.
 ``
            (D) Depression.
 ``
        (E) Parkinson's disease.
 ``
        (F) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
 ``
        (G) Substance use disorder.
 ``
        (H) Such other conditions as may be designated by 
 the Under Secretary.
 ``

    (2) The term `innovative therapy' means any of the 
 following:
 ``
        (A) 3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine.
 ``
        (B) 5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine.
 ``
            (C) Ibogaine.
 ``
            (D) Ketamine.
 ``
        (E) Psilocybin.
 ``
        (F) Such other therapies as may be designated by 
 the Under Secretary.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

section 7330D the following new item:

``7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence.''.
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