[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4031 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4031

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2026

 Mr. Gallego (for himself and Mr. McCormick) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and 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''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS DESIGNATION OF INNOVATIVE 
              THERAPIES CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence
    ``(a) Establishment of Centers.--
            ``(1) Designation.--The Secretary, upon the recommendation 
        of the Under Secretary for Health, shall designate not fewer 
        than five medical facilities of the Department as the locations 
        for innovative therapies centers of excellence.
            ``(2) Establishment and operation.--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 
medical facilities as centers of excellence under subsection (a)(1), 
the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for 
Health, shall ensure appropriate geographic distribution of such 
facilities.
    ``(c) Requirements for Designation.--
            ``(1) Highest competitive standards.--The Secretary may not 
        designate a medical facility as a location for a center under 
        subsection (a)(1) 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)(1) is among those proposals that 
        meet the highest competitive standards of scientific and 
        clinical merit.
            ``(2) Other elements.--The Secretary may not designate a 
        medical facility as a location for a center under subsection 
        (a)(1) 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--
                            ``(i) an accredited medical school that 
                        provides education and training in innovative 
                        therapies and with which the 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 facility and of the affiliated school or schools to 
                advise the directors of the 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 
                facilities of the Department 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) In general.--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) Membership.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The membership of the panel 
                established under paragraph (1) shall consist of 
                experts in innovative therapies.
                    ``(B) Period of service.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Members of the panel 
                        established under paragraph (1) shall serve for 
                        a period of not more than two years, except as 
                        specified in clause (ii).
                            ``(ii) Initial appointment.--Of the members 
                        first appointed to the panel established under 
                        paragraph (1), 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 for Health at 
                        the time of appointment.
            ``(3) Duties.--The panel established under paragraph (1) 
        shall review each proposal submitted to the panel by the Under 
        Secretary for Health and shall submit its views on the relative 
        scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal to the 
        Under Secretary.
            ``(4) Application of laws regarding federal advisory 
        committees.--The panel established under paragraph (1) shall 
        not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5.
    ``(e) Annual Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than two years after the date 
        of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 
        Under Secretary for Health shall submit to the Committee on 
        Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the 
        activities of the centers established under subsection (a) 
        during the period covered by the report.
            ``(2) Elements.--Each report required under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) a summary of activities carried out by the 
                centers established under subsection (a) during such 
                period;
                    ``(B) an identification of key findings made at 
                such centers during such period;
                    ``(C) recommendations to improve the delivery of 
                innovative therapies to veterans; and
                    ``(D) such other matters as the Under Secretary 
                determines relevant.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        $30,000,000 for each fiscal year to support the research and 
        education activities of the centers established under 
        subsection (a).
            ``(2) Allocation of additional amounts.--The Under 
        Secretary for Health shall allocate to the centers established 
        under subsection (a) from other amounts appropriated generally 
        for the medical services account and medical and prosthetics 
        research account of the Department, as appropriate, such 
        amounts as the Under Secretary 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 for Health.
            ``(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 for Health.''.
    (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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