I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 280 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a 

pilot program to test the feasibility and outcomes of integrating a substance use disorder and behavioral health treatment locator tool into 

the prescription drug monitoring programs of 5 eligible States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2021 

Mr. MCKINLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

carry out a pilot program to test the feasibility and 

outcomes of integrating a substance use disorder and 

behavioral health treatment locator tool into the prescription drug monitoring programs of 5 eligible States. 

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 ‘‘PDMPs Help Patients 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATING SUBSTANCE 

2 USE DISORDER AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

3 TREATMENT LOCATOR TOOL INTO STATE 

4 PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PRO5 GRAMS. 

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

7 Human Services, in consultation with the Assistant Sec8 retary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall estab9 lish and implement a pilot program in which the Secretary 

10 awards grants to, or enters into cooperative agreements 

11 with, not more than 5 eligible States to test the feasibility 

12 and outcomes of integrating a substance use disorder and 

13 behavioral health treatment locator tool into the State’s 

14 prescription drug monitoring program. 

15 (b) GRANT ESTABLISHMENT AND PARTICIPATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

17 program under this section, the Secretary shall, on 

18 a competitive basis, award grants to, or enter into 

19 cooperative agreements with, not more than 5 eligi20 ble States. 

21 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

22 under this section, a State shall demonstrate to the 

23 Secretary’s satisfaction that the State is making 

24 progress in integrating the State’s PDMP with elec25 tronic health records and health information tech26 nology infrastructure. 


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1 (3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

2 this section, the Secretary shall give preference to el3 igible States described in paragraph (2) whose rates 

4 of death due to drug overdose per population of 

5 100,000 are in the top quartile according to the 

6 most recent data of the Centers for Disease Control 

7 and Prevention. 

8 (c) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A grant awarded to an eligi9 ble entity under this section shall be for a period of 2 

10 years. 

11 (d) GRANT USES.— 

12 (1) REQUIRED USES.—A grant awarded under 

13 this section to an eligible State shall be used for 

14 both of the following purposes: 

15 (A) To integrate a substance use disorder 

16 and behavioral health treatment locator tool 

17 into the PDMP. 

18 (B) To develop and disseminate guidance 

19 for health care providers on how to consult and 

20 share information obtained through the sub21 stance use disorder and behavioral health treat22 ment locator tool when a patient’s PDMP infor23 mation indicates possible misuse of a controlled 

24 substance. 


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1 (2) ADDITIONAL PERMISSIBLE USES.—A grant 

2 awarded under this section to an eligible State may 

3 be used for any of the following additional purposes: 

4 (A) To integrate a substance use disorder 

5 and behavioral health treatment locator tool 

6 into the PDMP that incorporates direct referral 

7 capabilities that enable the health care pro8 vider— 

9 (i) to refer a patient to treatment or 

10 for an assessment; and 

11 (ii) consistent with the protection of 

12 information by Federal and State privacy 

13 laws and security rules, receive feedback 

14 about the patient’s engagement with such 

15 treatment or assessment. 

16 (B) To integrate a substance use disorder 

17 and behavioral health treatment locator tool 

18 into the PDMP that provides information re19 garding the current capacity of inpatient or 

20 outpatient treatment resources of a health care 

21 provider. 

22 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) REPORTS BY STATES.—Each eligible State 

24 that participates in the pilot program under this sec25 tion shall submit to the Secretary an annual report 


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1 for each year of the pilot program that includes in2 formation on— 

3 (A) the number of health care providers 

4 and health facilities with access to the sub5 stance use disorder and behavioral health treat6 ment locator tool; 

7 (B) the number of individuals referred to 

8 treatment with the assistance of the locator 

9 tool; 

10 (C) aggregate, de-identified patient data 

11 related to the type of treatment located by the 

12 locator tool, how often patients followed 

13 through on seeking such treatment, and the av14 erage duration of such treatment, to the extent 

15 collected by the State; 

16 (D) feedback from providers with access to 

17 the locator tool on usability and any impact on 

18 outcomes; 

19 (E) recommendations to improve the 

20 usability and efficacy of a substance use dis21 order and behavioral health treatment locator 

22 tool within the PDMP; and 

23 (F) additional information and reporting 

24 metrics as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 (2) REPORT BY SECRETARY.—Not less than 

2 180 days after the conclusion of the pilot program 

3 under this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 

4 Congress a report on the findings of the program, 

5 including— 

6 (A) outcomes reported by the participating 

7 States; 

8 (B) findings on the suitability of including 

9 a substance use disorder and behavioral health 

10 treatment locator tool within State PDMPs; 

11 and 

12 (C) recommendations on best practices for 

13 integrating a substance use disorder and behav14 ioral health treatment locator tool within State 

15 PDMPs. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) The term ‘‘prescription drug monitoring 

18 program’’ or ‘‘PDMP’’ has the meaning given to the 

19 term ‘‘PDMP’’ in section 399O of the Public Health 

20 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–3). 

21 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

22 of Health and Human Services. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

2 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

3 $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023. 

Æ 


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