I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6999 

To establish the Coronavirus Mental Health and Addiction Assistance 

Network, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2020 

Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 

to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Coronavirus Mental Health and Addiction 

Assistance Network, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Coronavirus Mental 

5 Health and Addiction Assistance Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CORONAVIRUS MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION 

7 ASSISTANCE NETWORK. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6999.IH H6999

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1 retary’’), acting through the Assistant Secretary for Men2 tal Health and Substance Use, shall make competitive 

3 grants to eligible entities described in subsection (c) to es4 tablish a Coronavirus Mental Health and Addiction Assist5 ance Network that provides programs for assisting individ6 uals in managing mental health and substance use dis7 orders during or in connection to the COVID–19 pan8 demic. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.—Grants awarded under 

10 subsection (a) may be used— 

11 (1) to initiate, expand, or sustain programs that 

12 provide professional mental health and substance use 

13 disorder counseling and referral for other forms of 

14 assistance as necessary to assist in the management 

15 of mental health and substance use disorders during 

16 or in connection to the COVID–19 pandemic, 

17 through— 

18 (A) telephone helplines and websites; 

19 (B) training, including training programs 

20 and workshops; 

21 (C) support groups; 

22 (D) outreach and support activities, includ23 ing the dissemination of information, materials, 

24 and equipment to clients for remote access to 


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1 mental health and substance use disorder serv2 ices; and 

3 (E) telehealth services; or 

4 (2) to enter into contracts, on a multiyear 

5 basis, with community-based, direct-service organiza6 tions to initiate, expand, or sustain programs de7 scribed in paragraph (1) and subsection (a). 

8 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may award 

9 a grant under this section to an entity that provides evi10 dence-based services and is— 

11 (1) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4 of 

12 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist13 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or an urban Indian or14 ganization (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 

15 Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)); 

16 (2) a qualified nonprofit organization, as deter17 mined by the Secretary; 

18 (3) an entity providing appropriate services, as 

19 determined by the Secretary, in 1 or more States; or 

20 (4) a partnership carried out by 2 or more enti21 ties described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3). 

22 (d) FUNDING.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is appropriated, out 

24 of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appro25 priated, $100,000,000, for the fiscal year ending 


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1 September 30, 2020, to remain available until ex2 pended, or until the date that is 1 year after the 

3 conclusion of the public health emergency declared 

4 by the Secretary under section 319 of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 

6 30, 2020, with respect to COVID–19, whichever is 

7 earlier, for the purpose of carrying out this section. 

8 (2) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided 

10 by paragraph (1) are designated as an emer11 gency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of 

12 the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 

13 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

14 (B) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the 

15 Senate, this subsection is designated as an 

16 emergency requirement pursuant to section 

17 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), 

18 the concurrent resolution on the budget for fis19 cal year 2018. 

20 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS, AGENCIES, AND PUB21 LIC.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

23 the amount appropriated under subsection (d) is no 

24 longer available, the Secretary shall submit to Con25 gress and any other relevant Federal department or 


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1 agency, and make publicly available, a report de2 scribing the success of the Coronavirus Mental 

3 Health and Addiction Assistance Network under this 

4 section in assisting in managing mental health and 

5 substance use disorders during or in connection to 

6 the COVID–19 pandemic. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 

8 (1) shall include— 

9 (A) an inventory and assessment of efforts, 

10 to support individuals seeking to manage men11 tal health and substance use disorders during 

12 or in connection to the COVID–19 pandemic, 

13 by— 

14 (i) the Federal Government, States, 

15 and units of local government; 

16 (ii) communities comprised of individ17 uals seeking to manage mental health and 

18 substance use disorders during or in con19 nection to the COVID–19 pandemic; 

20 (iii) health care providers; and 

21 (iv) other appropriate entities, as de22 termined by the Secretary; 

23 (B) a description of the challenges faced 

24 by individuals seeking to manage mental health 


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1 and substance use disorders during or in con2 nection to the COVID–19 pandemic; 

3 (C) a description of how the Secretary can 

4 improve coordination and cooperation with 

5 other Federal health departments and agencies, 

6 including other subagencies of the Department 

7 of Health and Human Services such as the 

8 Health Resources and Services Administration, 

9 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

10 and the National Institutes of Health, to best 

11 address the mental health and substance use 

12 disorders of individuals who are seeking to 

13 manage mental health and substance use dis14 orders during or in connection to the COVID– 

15 19 pandemic; and 

16 (D) an evaluation of the impact that men17 tal health and substance use disorder challenges 

18 and health outcomes (including suicide) experi19 enced during or in connection to the COVID– 

20 19 pandemic have on— 

21 (i) the health care workforce and oc22 cupations related to pandemic prepared23 ness and response; 


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1 (ii) workforce readiness in new occu2 pations for employees whose jobs became 

3 obsolete; and 

4 (iii) community resilience. 

Æ 


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