I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5554 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and improve health care 

services available to veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs 

for substance use disorders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2008 

Mr. MICHAUD (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and improve health care services available to veterans from the 

Department of Veterans Affairs for substance use disorders, 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 ‘‘Veterans Substance 

5 Use Disorders Prevention and Treatment Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF VETERANS SUBSTANCE USE DIS2 ORDER PROGRAMS. 

3 Subsection (d) of section 1720A of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3)(A) Each plan under paragraph (1) shall ensure 

7 that the medical center provides ready access to a full con8 tinuum of care for substance use disorders for veterans 

9 in need of such care. 

10 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘full continuum of 

11 care’ means, with respect to a substance use disorder, all 

12 of the following care, treatment, and services: 

13 ‘‘(i) Screening for substance use disorder in all 

14 settings, including primary care settings. 

15 ‘‘(ii) Detoxification and stabilization services. 

16 ‘‘(iii) Intensive outpatient care services. 

17 ‘‘(iv) Relapse prevention services. 

18 ‘‘(v) Outpatient counseling services. 

19 ‘‘(vi) Residential substance use disorder treat20 ment in the case of veterans with severe recurring 

21 substance abuse or substance dependence. 

22 ‘‘(vii) Pharmacological treatment to reduce 

23 cravings, and opioid substitution therapy referred to 

24 in paragraph (2). 

25 ‘‘(viii) Coordination with groups providing peer 

26 to peer counseling. 


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1 ‘‘(ix) Short-term, early interventions for sub2 stance use disorders, such as motivational coun3 seling, that are readily available and provided in a 

4 manner to overcome stigma associated with the pro5 vision of such interventions and related care. 

6 ‘‘(x) Marital and family counseling. 

7 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall provide for outreach to vet8 erans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Op9 eration Iraqi Freedom to increase awareness of the avail10 ability of care, treatment, and services from the Depart11 ment for substance use disorders.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR ALLOCATION OF DEPARTMENT 

13 RESOURCES TO ENSURE AVAILABILITY FOR 

14 ALL VETERANS REQUIRING TREATMENT FOR 

15 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS. 

16 (a) EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF FUNDING; ANNUAL

17 REPORT.—Section 1720A of title 38, United States Code, 

18 as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding 

19 at the end the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary shall ensure that amounts 

21 made available for care, treatment, and services provided 

22 under this section are allocated in such a manner that a 

23 full continuum of care (as defined in subsection (d)(3)(B)) 

24 is available to veterans seeking such care, treatment, or 


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1 services, without regard to the location of the residence 

2 of any such veterans. 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) In addition to the report required under sec4 tion 1703(c)(1) of this title (relating to furnishing of con5 tract care and services under this section), the Secretary 

6 shall include in the budget documents which the Secretary 

7 submits to Congress for any fiscal year a detailed report 

8 on the care, treatment, and services furnished by the De9 partment under this section during the most recently com10 pleted fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(B) Each report under subparagraph (A) shall in12 clude data on the following for each medical facility of the 

13 Department: 

14 ‘‘(i) The number of veterans who have been 

15 provided care, treatment, or services under this sec16 tion at the facility for each 1,000 veterans who have 

17 received hospital care (if applicable) or medical serv18 ices at the facility. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The number of veterans for whom sub20 stance use disorder screening was carried out under 

21 subsection (d)(3)(B)(i) at the facility. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The number of veterans for whom a sub23 stance use disorder was identified after a screening 

24 was carried out under subsection (d)(3)(B)(i) at the 

25 facility. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The number of veterans who were referred 

2 by the facility for care, treatment, or services for 

3 substance use disorders under this section. 

4 ‘‘(v) The number of veterans who received care, 

5 treatment or services at the facility for substance 

6 use disorders under this section. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Availability of the full continuum of care 

8 (as defined in subsection (d)(3)(B)) at the facility. 

9 ‘‘(C) Each report prepared under subparagraph (A) 

10 shall be reviewed by the Committee on Care of Severely 

11 Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans authorized by section 

12 7321 of this title. The Committee shall provide an inde13 pendent assessment of the care, treatment, and services 

14 furnished directly by the Department under this section 

15 to veterans. Such assessment shall include a detailed anal16 ysis of the availability, the barriers to access (if any), and 

17 the quality of such care, treatment, and services.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply to fiscal years beginning on or 

20 after October 1, 2009. 


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1 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR INTERNET-BASED SUB2 STANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT FOR 

3 VETERANS OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 

4 AND OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) Stigma associated with seeking treatment 

8 for mental health disorders has been demonstrated 

9 to prevent some veterans from seeking such treat10 ment at a medical facility operated by the Depart11 ment of Defense or the Department of Veterans Af12 fairs. 

13 (2) There is a significant incidence among vet14 erans of post-deployment mental health problems, 

15 especially among members of a reserve component 

16 who return as veterans to civilian life. 

17 (3) Computer-based self-guided training has 

18 been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for 

19 supplementing the care of psychological conditions. 

20 (4) Younger veterans, especially those who 

21 served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation 

22 Iraqi Freedom, are comfortable with and proficient 

23 at computer-based technology. 

24 (5) Veterans living in rural areas find access to 

25 treatment for substance use disorder limited. 


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1 (6) Self-assessment and treatment options for 

2 substance use disorders through an Internet website 

3 may reduce stigma and provides additional access 

4 for individuals seeking care and treatment for such 

5 disorders. 

6 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet8 erans Affairs shall carry out a pilot program to test the 

9 feasibility and advisability of providing veterans who seek 

10 treatment for substance use disorders access to a com11 puter-based self-assessment, education, and specified 

12 treatment program through a secure Internet website op13 erated by the Secretary. Participation in the pilot program 

14 is available on a voluntary basis for those veterans who 

15 have served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation 

16 Iraqi Freedom. 

17 (c) ELEMENTS OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In designing and carrying 

19 out the pilot program under this section, the Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that— 

21 (A) access to the Internet website and the 

22 programs available on the website by a veteran 

23 (or family member) does not involuntarily gen24 erate an identifiable medical record of that acVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:31 Mar 08, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5554.IH H5554

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1 cess by that veteran in any medical database 

2 maintained by the Department; 

3 (B) the Internet website is accessible from 

4 remote locations, especially rural areas; and 

5 (C) the Internet website includes a self-as6 sessment tool for substance use disorders, self7 guided treatment and educational materials for 

8 such disorders, and appropriate information 

9 and materials for family members of veterans. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATION OF SIMILAR PROJECTS.— 

11 In designing the pilot program under this section, 

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall consider simi13 lar pilot projects of the Department of Defense for 

14 the early diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic 

15 stress disorder and other mental health conditions 

16 established under section 741 of the John Warner 

17 National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 

18 2007 (Public Law 109–364; 120 Stat. 2304). 

19 (3) LOCATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec20 retary shall carry out the pilot program through 

21 those medical centers of the Department of Veterans 

22 Affairs that have established Centers for Excellence 

23 for Substance Abuse Treatment and Education or 

24 that have established a Substance Abuse Program 

25 Evaluation and Research Center. 


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1 (4) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs may enter into contracts with 

3 qualified entities or organizations to carry out the 

4 pilot program required under this section. 

5 (d) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The pilot pro6 gram required by subsection (a) shall be carried out dur7 ing the two-year period beginning on the date of the com8 mencement of the pilot program. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Vet11 erans Affairs $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 

12 2010 to carry out the pilot program under this section. 

13 (f) REPORT.—Not later than six months after the 

14 completion of the pilot program, the Secretary shall sub15 mit to Congress a report on the pilot program, and shall 

16 include in that report an assessment of the feasibility and 

17 advisability of the pilot program, of any cost savings or 

18 other benefits associated with the pilot program, and rec19 ommendations for the continuation or expansion of the 

20 pilot program. 

Æ 


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