II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4306 

To support behavioral health integration into primary care practices, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 25, 2022 

Ms. SMITH (for herself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To support behavioral health integration into primary care 

practices, 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 ‘‘Improving Access to 

5 Behavioral Health Integration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH IN7 TEGRATION. 

8 Section 760 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 294k) is amended— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4306 IS

1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TRAIN2 ING DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘PROGRAM TO SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

4 INTEGRATION’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

7 and inserting a semicolon; 

8 (B) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking the 

9 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) supporting primary care practices in im12 plementing evidence-based behavioral health integra13 tion programs that involve professionals whose pri14 mary job function is the direct screening, diagnosis, 

15 treatment, or recovery support of patients with or in 

16 recovery from a behavioral health disorder, such as 

17 physicians, psychiatric nurses, social workers, mar18 riage and family therapists, mental health coun19 selors, occupational therapists, psychologists, and 

20 peer support specialists.’’; 

21 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(4) BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION PRO24 GRAMS.—A recipient of a grant under subsection 

25 (a)(4) shall use the grant funds to— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4306 IS

1 ‘‘(A) hire physicians, psychiatric nurses, 

2 social workers, marriage and family therapists, 

3 mental health counselors, occupational thera4 pists, psychologists, or peer support specialists 

5 to provide behavioral health services; 

6 ‘‘(B) identify and enter into contractual re7 lationships with health care providers or ven8 dors offering care management and behavioral 

9 health consultation to facilitate the adoption of 

10 behavioral health integration models; or 

11 ‘‘(C) for such other purposes as the Sec12 retary determines appropriate.’’; 

13 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(4) BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION PRO16 GRAMS.—To be eligible to receive a grant under sub17 section (a)(4), an entity shall be a primary care 

18 practice, including adult primary care practices and 

19 pediatric primary care practices.’’; 

20 (5) by adding at the end of subsection (d) the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(3) BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION PRO23 GRAMS.—In awarding grants under subsection 

24 (a)(4), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible en25 tities that— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4306 IS

1 ‘‘(A) demonstrate a pathway to financially 

2 sustain the behavioral health integration pro3 gram beyond the initial grant period, such as 

4 participation in value-based behavioral health 

5 integration models; 

6 ‘‘(B) have the capacity to expand access to 

7 mental health and substance use disorder serv8 ices in areas with demonstrated need, as deter9 mined by the Secretary, such as Tribal, rural, 

10 or other medically underserved communities; or 

11 ‘‘(C) are practices that are eligible for 

12 technical assistance under section 1848(q)(11) 

13 of the Social Security Act on the basis of the 

14 number of professionals.’’; 

15 (6) in subsection (f)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘demonstration program’’ 

17 each place such term appears and inserting 

18 ‘‘program’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

21 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

22 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

23 (C) as subparagraph (D); and 

24 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

25 (B) the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4306 IS

1 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the uptake of behav2 ioral health integration models in primary care 

3 practices; and’’; and 

4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) METRICS FOR MEASURING THE UPTAKE

6 OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION MODELS.— 

7 For purposes of the reporting requirement under 

8 paragraph (2)(C), the Secretary shall develop evi9 dence-based metrics and reporting requirements to 

10 measure the uptake of behavioral health integration 

11 models by primary care practices, including by meas12 uring the increase in provider capacity, patient ac13 cess to behavioral health care, and patient outcomes. 

14 The Secretary shall consult with primary care and 

15 behavioral health professionals, and patient advo16 cates when developing measures and performance 

17 metrics. 

18 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION OF DATA.—The Secretary 

19 shall make public aggregate evaluation results col20 lected through the study under paragraph (1) to fa21 cilitate identifying best practices and promising 

22 models for scale with respect to behavioral health in23 tegration programs.’’; and 

24 (7) by amending subsection (g) to read as fol25 lows: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4306 IS

1 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated, for each of fiscal years 

3 2023 through 2027— 

4 ‘‘(1) to carry out the grant programs under 

5 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a), 

6 $10,000,000; and 

7 ‘‘(2) to carry out the grant program under sub8 section (a)(4), $30,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS