I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2369 
To improve mental and substance use health care. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2009 
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mrs. BONO MACK) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To improve mental and substance use health care. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Improving the Quality of Mental and Substance Use 
Health Care Act of 2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; findings. 
Sec. 2. Evidence-based mental and substance use health care. 
Sec. 3. Improved coordination of care. 
Sec. 4. Information technology for mental health and substance use health care 
providers. 
Sec. 5. Council on the Mental Health and Substance Use Health Care Work-
force. 
Sec. 6. Funding of research through national centers of excellence. 
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Sec. 7. Patient-centered care. 
Sec. 8. Uniform methodologies for reimbursing behavioral health claims. 
Sec. 9. Study on use of public mental health and addiction services by individ-
uals with private health coverage. 
Sec. 10. High-quality mental health and substance use health care Medicaid 
demonstration project. 
Sec. 11. Medicaid requirement for State repeal of laws denying health benefits 
coverage based on intoxication. 
(c) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) In its study, ‘‘Improving the Quality of 
Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Condi-
tions’’, the Institute of Medicine found that each 
year, more than 33,000,000 Americans use health 
care services for their mental problems and illnesses, 
and for conditions resulting from their use of alco-
hol, inappropriate use of prescription medications, 
or, less often, illegal drugs. In the United States, 
mental and substance use illnesses (which often 
occur together) are the leading cause of death and 
disability for women, the highest for men ages 15 to 
44, and the second highest for all men. 
(2) Effective treatments for these medical ill-
nesses exist, but multiple barriers prevent many 
from receiving them. The consequences of these bar-
riers are serious for these individuals and their fami-
lies, for their employers and the workforce, for the 
Nation’s economy, and for the Nation’s education, 
welfare, and justice systems. The Institute of Medi-
cine further found that a comprehensive approach is 
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needed to remedy this issue that addresses the dis-
tinguishing characteristics of mental and substance 
use health care in the United States. 
(3) The Institute of Medicine recommended a 
multifaceted and comprehensive strategy to improve 
the quality of mental and substance use health care 
in the United States and thereby ensure that— 
(A) individual patient preferences, needs, 
and values prevail in the face of residual stig-
ma, discrimination, and coercion into treatment; 
(B) the necessary infrastructure exists to 
produce scientific evidence more quickly and 
promote its application in patient care; 
(C) multiple providers’ care of the same 
patient is coordinated; 
(D) emerging information technology re-
lated to health care benefits people with mental 
or substance use problems and illnesses; 
(E) the health care workforce has the edu-
cation, training, and capacity to deliver high- 
quality care for mental and substance use con-
ditions; and 
(F) government programs, employers, and 
other group purchasers of health care for men-
tal and substance use conditions use their dol-
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lars in ways that support the delivery of high- 
quality care. 
(4) To implement this strategy, the Institute of 
Medicine noted that action is needed from many 
health care leaders, including the Congress. 
SEC. 2. EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL AND SUBSTANCE USE 
HEALTH CARE. 
(a) COMMISSION
FOR EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL 
AND SUBSTANCE USE HEALTH CARE.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services (in this Act referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a Commission for Evi-
dence-Based Mental and Substance Use Health Care 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) to 
strengthen, coordinate, and consolidate the synthesis 
and dissemination of evidence on effective mental 
and substance use treatments and services. 
(2) DUTIES.—For the purposes described in 
paragraph (1), the Commission shall, on an ongoing 
basis— 
(A) identify, describe, and categorize the 
available evidence-based preventive, diagnostic, 
and therapeutic interventions (including screen-
ing, diagnostic, and symptom-monitoring tools), 
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including interventions for various age and eth-
nic groups; 
(B) recommend procedure and payment 
codes and definitions for such evidence-based 
interventions and tools for their use in adminis-
trative datasets under part C of title XI of the 
Social Security Act and recommend standards 
for health data collection relating to such inter-
ventions; 
(C) identify on an annual basis priority 
areas for research on— 
(i) the development of new evidence- 
based preventive, diagnostic, and thera-
peutic interventions; 
(ii) comparative effectiveness and cost 
effectiveness of existing interventions and 
new evidence-based interventions; and 
(iii) how best to translate new evi-
dence-based findings into practice in com-
munity-based clinical settings; 
(D) recommend to the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Mental Health, the Director 
of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the 
Director of the National Institute on Alcohol 
Abuse and Alcoholism, and other Federal offi-
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