I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5261 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for regional centers 

of excellence in substance use disorder education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2018 

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

regional centers of excellence in substance use disorder 

education, 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 ‘‘Treatment, Education, 

5 and Community Help to Combat Addiction Act of 2018’’ 

6 or the ‘‘TEACH to Combat Addiction Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL CENTERS OF EX2 CELLENCE IN SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 

3 EDUCATION. 

4 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 

5 is amended by inserting after section 549 (42 U.S.C. 

6 290ee–4) the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 550. REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN SUB8 STANCE USE DISORDER EDUCATION. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

10 with such other agencies as are appropriate, shall, subject 

11 to the availability of appropriations, establish a solicitation 

12 process and award cooperative agreements to eligible enti13 ties for the designation of such entities as Regional Cen14 ters of Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Education 

15 and support of such regional centers of excellence to en16 hance and improve how health professionals are educated 

17 in pain management and substance use disorder through 

18 development, evaluation, and distribution of evidence19 based curriculum for health care professional schools. An 

20 eligible entity designated by the Secretary as a Regional 

21 Center of Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Edu22 cation shall carry out the activities described in subsection 

23 (b). 

24 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re2 ceive a cooperative agreement under subsection (a), 

3 an entity shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) be an entity specified by the Sec5 retary that offers education to students in var6 ious health professions, which may include— 

7 ‘‘(i) a health system; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a teaching hospital; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a community health center; 

10 ‘‘(iv) a physician’s office; 

11 ‘‘(v) a medical school; or 

12 ‘‘(vi) any other health professional 

13 school, school of public health, or Coopera14 tive Extension Program at institutions of 

15 higher education engaged in an aspect of 

16 the prevention, treatment, or recovery of 

17 substance use disorders; 

18 ‘‘(B) demonstrate an existing strategy, and 

19 have in place a plan for continuing such strat20 egy, or a proposed strategy to implement a cur21 riculum based on best practices for substance 

22 use disorder prevention, treatment, and recov23 ery; 

24 ‘‘(C) demonstrate community engagement 

25 and participation through community partners, 


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1 including mental health counselors, social work2 ers, peer recovery specialists, substance use 

3 treatment programs, law enforcement, and the 

4 business community; and 

5 ‘‘(D) provide to the Secretary such infor6 mation, at such time, and in such manner, as 

7 the Secretary may require. 

8 ‘‘(2) DIVERSITY.—In awarding cooperative 

9 agreements under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

10 take into account regional differences among eligible 

11 entities and shall make an effort to ensure geo12 graphic diversity. 

13 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC POSTING.—The Secretary shall 

15 make information provided to the Secretary under 

16 subsection (b)(1)(D) publically available on the 

17 Internet website of the Department of Health and 

18 Human Services. 

19 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall evalu20 ate each project carried out by a Regional Center of 

21 Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Education 

22 under this section and shall disseminate the findings 

23 with respect to each such evaluation to appropriate 

24 public and private entities. 


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1 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro2 priated to carry out this section, $2,000,000 for each of 

3 fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF NIH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE 

5 IN PAIN EDUCATION. 

6 Part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 

7 is amended by inserting after section 409J (42 U.S.C. 

8 284q) the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 409K. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN PAIN EDU10 CATION. 

11 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 

12 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 for the Centers 

13 of Excellence in Pain Education program conducted by the 

14 Director of NIH, through the Pain Consortium, under 

15 which such Centers of Excellence provide for coordination 

16 of the development, evaluation, and distribution of pain 

17 management curriculum for health professional schools to 

18 improve how health care professionals are taught about 

19 pain and its treatment.’’. 

Æ 


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