Title: Treatment, Education, and Community Help to Combat Addiction Act of 2018
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Treatment, Education, and Community Help to Combat Addiction Act of 2018 or the TEACH to Combat Addiction Act of 2018
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to designate Regional Centers of Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Education and provide support to such centers to enhance and improve pain management and substance use disorder education through the distribution of evidence-based curricula for health care professional schools.
The bill provides statutory authority for the National Institutes of Health's Centers for Excellence in Pain Education program, under which the centers provide for the coordination of the development, evaluation, and distribution of pain management curricula for health professional schools.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5261 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Treatment, Education, and Community 
Help to Combat Addiction Act of 2018'' or the ``TEACH to Combat 
Addiction Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN SUBSTANCE 
              USE DISORDER EDUCATION.

    Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act is amended by 
inserting after section 549 (42 U.S.C. 290ee-4) the following new 
section:

``SEC. 550. REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
              EDUCATION.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with such other 
agencies as are appropriate, shall, subject to the availability of 
appropriations, establish a solicitation process and award cooperative 
agreements to eligible entities for the designation of such entities as 
Regional Centers of Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Education and 
support of such regional centers of excellence to enhance and improve 
how health professionals are educated in pain management and substance 
use disorder through development, evaluation, and distribution of 
evidence-based curriculum for health care professional schools. An 
eligible entity designated by the Secretary as a Regional Center of 
Excellence in Substance Use Disorder Education shall carry out the 
activities described in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Selection of Centers of Excellence.--
            ``(1) Eligible entities.--To be eligible to receive a 
        cooperative agreement under subsection (a), an entity shall--
                    ``(A) be an entity specified by the Secretary that 
                offers education to students in various health 
                professions, which may include--
                            ``(i) a health system;
                            ``(ii) a teaching hospital;
                            ``(iii) a community health center;
                            ``(iv) a physician's office;
                            ``(v) a medical school; or
                            ``(vi) any other health professional 
                        school, school of public health, or Cooperative 
                        Extension Program at institutions of higher 
                        education engaged in an aspect of the 
                        prevention, treatment, or recovery of substance 
                        use disorders;
                    ``(B) demonstrate an existing strategy, and have in 
                place a plan for continuing such strategy, or a 
                proposed strategy to implement a curriculum based on 
                best practices for substance use disorder prevention, 
                treatment, and recovery;
                    ``(C) demonstrate community engagement and 
                participation through community partners, including 
                mental health counselors, social workers, peer recovery 
                specialists, substance use treatment programs, law 
                enforcement, and the business community; and
                    ``(D) provide to the Secretary such information, at 
                such time, and in such manner, as the Secretary may 
                require.
            ``(2) Diversity.--In awarding cooperative agreements under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into account regional 
        differences among eligible entities and shall make an effort to 
        ensure geographic diversity.
    ``(c) Dissemination of Information.--
            ``(1) Public posting.--The Secretary shall make information 
        provided to the Secretary under subsection (b)(1)(D) publically 
        available on the Internet website of the Department of Health 
        and Human Services.
            ``(2) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall evaluate each 
        project carried out by a Regional Center of Excellence in 
        Substance Use Disorder Education under this section and shall 
        disseminate the findings with respect to each such evaluation 
        to appropriate public and private entities.
    ``(d) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF NIH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN PAIN EDUCATION.

    Part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act is amended by 
inserting after section 409J (42 U.S.C. 284q) the following new 
section:

``SEC. 409K. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN PAIN EDUCATION.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2019 through 2023 for the Centers of Excellence in Pain 
Education program conducted by the Director of NIH, through the Pain 
Consortium, under which such Centers of Excellence provide for 
coordination of the development, evaluation, and distribution of pain 
management curriculum for health professional schools to improve how 
health care professionals are taught about pain and its treatment.''.
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