I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4153 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a pilot program to 

test the impact of early intervention on the prevention, management, 

and course of eating disorders. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2015 

Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. 

CASTOR of Florida, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a pilot 

program to test the impact of early intervention on the 

prevention, management, and course of eating disorders. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educating to Prevent 

5 Eating Disorders Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO TEST IMPACT OF EARLY 

2 INTERVENTION ON EATING DISORDERS. 

3 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 399V–6. PILOT PROGRAM TO TEST IMPACT OF EARLY 

7 INTERVENTION ON EATING DISORDERS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through the Di9 rector of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 

10 may establish a pilot program, for a period of three con11 secutive school years, to test the impact of providing stu12 dents in eligible schools with interventions to prevent, 

13 identify, intervene, and manage eating disorders. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under such pilot program, 

16 the Secretary shall award grants to eligible schools. 

17 Each such grant shall be for the period of the pilot 

18 program. 

19 ‘‘(2) USES.—Each eligible school receiving a 

20 grant under the pilot program shall use such grant 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(A) develop best practices, in accordance, 

23 as appropriate, with input from research ex24 perts in the eating disorders field, for eligible 

25 health care providers to assess and recognize 


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1 students with eating disorders and to respond 

2 appropriately; 

3 ‘‘(B) hire an eligible health care provider 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(i) in accordance with the best prac6 tices developed pursuant to subparagraph 

7 (A), assess and recognize whether students 

8 in grades 6 through 8 attending such 

9 school have eating disorders and respond 

10 appropriately to individuals with eating 

11 disorders among students attending such 

12 school, including by providing counsel and 

13 by referral; 

14 ‘‘(ii) provide educational information 

15 and seminars, developed in partnership 

16 with research experts in the field of eating 

17 disorders, to teachers at such school and 

18 parents of students attending such school 

19 to assist such teachers and parents in rec20 ognizing the symptoms of eating disorders 

21 and understanding how to seek help and 

22 intervention; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) otherwise serve as a full-time 

24 health care provider for such school. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, the term ‘eligible school’ means a public or private 

3 school that— 

4 ‘‘(1) serves students in grades 6 through 8; 

5 ‘‘(2) submits to the Secretary, through the Di6 rector of the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

7 Quality, an application to participate in the pilot 

8 program, containing such information as specified by 

9 the Secretary, through the Director; 

10 ‘‘(3) is assessed as having a need for a school 

11 nurse trained in assessing students to recognize and 

12 respond to eating disorders; and 

13 ‘‘(4) is selected by the Secretary, through the 

14 Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

15 Quality, in a manner such that schools are selected 

16 in each of the regions served by a regional office of 

17 the Department of Health and Human Services. 

18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—For pur19 poses of this section, the term ‘eligible health care pro20 vider’ means a health care provider, including a guidance 

21 counselor, who received a degree or training within a field 

22 of health, including mental health or counseling. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

25 after the last day of the pilot program, each eligible 


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1 school participating in the pilot program shall sub2 mit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

3 a report evaluating the process and the outcomes of 

4 the pilot program, with respect to such school, dur5 ing the period of the program. Each such report, 

6 with respect to an eligible school, shall include at 

7 least the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) The number of students assessed 

9 under the pilot program at such school, pre10 sented by age, sex, and ethnicity. 

11 ‘‘(B) The number of students identified 

12 under the pilot program at such school during 

13 such program as potentially in need of referral 

14 and counseling, the number of such students 

15 that participated in counseling and follow-up re16 ferrals, and the number of such students who 

17 showed improvement based on follow up assess18 ments. 

19 ‘‘(C) The number of educational seminars 

20 described in subsection (b)(2)(B) provided 

21 under the pilot program at such school, pre22 sented by categories of parents and teachers. 

23 ‘‘(D) The number of parents and teachers 

24 that indicated they needed more information or 


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1 assistance in responding to a potential problem 

2 relating to eating disorders. 

3 ‘‘(E) An evaluation of best practices which 

4 worked best for the student population of the 

5 eligible school. 

6 ‘‘(2) POSTING ON AHRQ WEBSITE.—Not later 

7 than 12 months after the last day of the pilot pro8 gram, the Secretary shall post on the public Internet 

9 website of the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

10 Quality aggregate information on the pilot program 

11 described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of para12 graph (1) based on the information submitted under 

13 such paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(f) NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO15 PRIATIONS.—Amounts otherwise made available to the 

16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for purposes 

17 of surveillance activities shall be made available to carry 

18 out this section. No amounts other than those made avail19 able pursuant to the previous sentence are authorized for 

20 appropriation to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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