[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2623 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2623
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to designate medical facilities of the Department of
Veterans Affairs as innovative therapies centers of excellence, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2025
Mr. Correa (for himself, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Khanna, and Mr.
Luttrell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to designate medical facilities of the Department of
Veterans Affairs as innovative therapies centers of excellence, 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 ``Innovative Therapies Centers of
Excellence Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS DESIGNATION OF INNOVATIVE
THERAPIES CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.
(a) In General.--Chapter 73 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 7330D the following new section:
``Sec. 7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence
``(a) Establishment of Centers.--(1) The Secretary, upon the
recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, shall designate not
less than five Department medical facilities as the locations for
innovative therapies centers of excellence.
``(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for such
purpose, the Secretary shall establish and operate innovative therapies
centers of excellence at the locations designated pursuant to paragraph
(1).
``(b) Geographic Distribution of Facilities.--In designating
Department medical facilities as centers of excellence under subsection
(a), the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for
Health, shall assure appropriate geographic distribution of such
facilities.
``(c) Requirements for Designation.--(1) The Secretary may not
designate a Department medical facility as a location for a center
under subsection (a) unless the peer review panel established under
subsection (d) has determined under that subsection that the proposal
submitted by such facility as a location for a new center under
subsection (a) is among those proposals that meet the highest
competitive standards of scientific and clinical merit.
``(2) The Secretary may not designate a Department medical facility
as a location for a center under subsection (a) unless the Secretary,
upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, determines
that the facility has, or may reasonably be anticipated to develop,
each of the following:
``(A) An arrangement with an--
``(i) accredited medical school that provides
education and training in innovative therapies and with
which the Department medical facility is affiliated
under which residents receive education and training in
use of innovative therapies to treat covered
conditions;
``(ii) an accredited school of psychiatry; and
``(iii) an accredited school of social work.
``(B) The ability to attract the participation of
scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity in
medical research efforts.
``(C) An advisory committee composed of veterans and
appropriate medical and research representatives of the
Department medical facility and of the affiliated school or
schools to advise the directors of such facility and such
center on policy matters pertaining to the activities of the
center during the period of the operation of such center.
``(D) The capability to conduct effectively evaluations of
the activities of such center.
``(E) The capability to coordinate (as part of an
integrated national system) education, clinical, and research
activities within all facilities with such centers.
``(F) The capability to jointly develop a consortium of
providers with interest in treating covered conditions with
innovative therapies at Department facilities without such
centers in order to ensure better access to state-of-the-art
diagnosis, care, and education for innovative therapies
throughout the medical system of the Department.
``(G) The capability to develop a national repository in
the medical system of the Department for the collection of data
on health services delivered to veterans seeking innovative
therapies.
``(d) Peer Review Panel.--(1) The Under Secretary for Health shall
establish a panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of
proposals that are submitted to the Secretary for the establishment of
centers under this section.
``(2)(A) The membership of the panel shall consist of experts in
innovative therapies.
``(B) Members of the panel shall serve for a period of no longer
than two years, except as specified in subparagraph (C).
``(C) Of the members first appointed to the panel, one half shall
be appointed for a period of three years and one half shall be
appointed for a period of two years, as designated by the Under
Secretary at the time of appointment.
``(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted to the panel
by the Under Secretary and shall submit its views on the relative
scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal to the Under
Secretary.
``(4) The panel shall not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5.
``(e) Annual Report.--Not later than two years after the date of
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Under
Secretary of Health shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs
of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the activities
of the centers of excellence designated under this section during the
period covered by the report. Each such report shall include--
``(1) a summary of activities carried out by the centers
during such period;
``(2) an identification of key findings made at such
centers during such period;
``(3) recommendations to improve the delivery of innovative
therapies to veterans; and
``(4) such other matters as the Under Secretary determines
relevant.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated $30,000,000 for each fiscal year for the support of the
research and education activities of the centers established pursuant
to subsection (a). The Under Secretary for Health shall allocate to
such centers from other funds appropriated generally for the Department
medical services account and medical and prosthetics research account,
as appropriate, such amounts as the Under Secretary for Health
determines appropriate.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section;
``(1) The term `covered condition' means any of the
following:
``(A) Anxiety.
``(B) Bipolar disorder.
``(C) Chronic pain.
``(D) Depression.
``(E) Parkinson's disease.
``(F) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
``(G) Substance use disorder.
``(H) Such other conditions as may be designated by
the Under Secretary.
``(2) The term `innovative therapy' means any of the
following:
``(A) 3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine.
``(B) 5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine.
``(C) Ibogaine.
``(D) Ketamine.
``(E) Psilocybin.
``(F) Such other therapies as may be designated by
the Under Secretary.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
7330D the following new item:
``7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence.''.
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