,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bcdd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #ab1 #bjac ,mr4
 ,sessions 7for himself and ,mr4        
,thompson of ,california7 introduced the
 following bill2 which was referred to  
the ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a  
,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of    
,defense to carry out a pilot program   
for investigational treatment of members
 of the ,armed ,forces for traumatic    
brain injury and post-traumatic stress  
disorder4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,,tbi ,treatment    
,act4  #b4 ,pilot program for           
investigational treatment of members of 
the ,armed ,forces for traumatic brain  
injury and post-traumatic stress        
disorder  7a7 ,process ,the ,secretary  
of ,defense shall carry out a five-year 
pilot program under which the ,secretary
 shall establish a process through which
 the ,secretary shall provide payment   
for investigational treatments          
7including diagnostic testing7 of       

traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic
 stress disorder received by members of 
the ,armed ,forces in health care       
facilities other than military treatment
 facilities4 ,such process shall provide
 that payment be made directly to the   
health care facility furnishing the     
treatment4  7b7 ,conditions for approval
 ,the approval by the ,secretary for    
payment for a treatment pursuant to     
subsection 7a7 shall be subject to the  
following conditions3  7#a7 ,any drug or
 device used in the treatment must be   
approved or cleared by the ,food and    
,drug ,administration for any purpose   
and its use must comply with rules of   
the ,food and ,drug ,administration     
applicable to investigational new drugs 
or investigational devices4  7#b7 ,the  
treatment must be approved by the       
,secretary following approval by an     
institutional review board operating in 
accordance with regulations issued by   
the ,secretary of ,health and ,human    
,services4  7#c7 ,the patient receiving 

the treatment must demonstrate an       
improvement under criteria approved by  
the ,secretary1 as a result of the      
treatment on one or more of the         
following3  7,a7 ,standardized          
independent pre-treatment and           
post-treatment neuropsychological       
testing4  7,b7 ,accepted survey         
instruments including1 such instruments 
that look at quality of life4  7,c7     
,neurological imaging4  7,d7 ,clinical  
examination4  7#d7 ,the patient         
receiving the treatment must be         
receiving the treatment voluntarily and 
based on informed consent4  7#e7 ,the   
patient receiving the treatment may not 
be a retired member of the ,armed       
,forces who is entitled to benefits     
under part ,a1 or eligible to enroll    
under part ,b1 of title ,,xviii of the  
,social ,security ,act4  7c7 ,additional
 restrictions authorized ,the ,secretary
 may establish additional restrictions  
or conditions for reimbursement as the  
,secretary determines appropriate to    

ensure the protection of human research 
subjects1 appropriate fiscal management1
 and the validity of the research       
results4  7d7 ,authority ,the ,secretary
 shall make payments under this section 
for treatments received by members of   
the ,armed ,forces using the authority  
in subsection 7c77#a7 of section #ajgd  
of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code4    
7e7 ,amount ,a payment under this       
section shall be made at the equivalent 
,centers for ,medicare and ,medicaid    
,services reimbursement rate in effect  
for appropriate treatment codes for the 
,state or territory in which the        
treatment is received4 ,if no such rate 
is in effect1 payment shall be made on a
 cost-reimbursement basis1 as determined
 by the ,secretary1 in consultation with
 the ,secretary of ,health and ,human   
,services4  7f7 ,data collection and    
availability  7#a7 ,in general ,the     
,secretary shall develop and maintain a 
database containing data from each      
patient case involving the use of a     

treatment under this section4 ,the      
,secretary shall ensure that the        
database preserves confidentiality and  
that any use of the database or         
disclosures of such data are limited to 
such use and disclosures permitted by   
law and applicable regulations4  7#b7   
,publication of qualified institutional 
review board studies ,the ,secretary    
shall ensure that an ,internet website  
of the ,department of ,defense includes 
a list of all civilian institutional    
review board studies that have received 
a payment under this section4  7g7      
,assistance for members ,to obtain      
treatment  7#a7 ,assignment to temporary
 duty ,the ,secretary of a military     
department may assign a member of the   
,armed ,forces under the jurisdiction of
 the ,secretary to temporary duty or    
allow the member a permissive temporary 
duty in order to permit the member to   
receive treatment for traumatic brain   
injury or post-traumatic stress         
disorder1 for which payments shall be   

made under subsection 7a71 at a location
 beyond reasonable commuting distance of
 the permanent duty station of the      
member4  7#b7 ,per diem ,a member who is
 away from the permanent station of the 
member may be paid a per diem in lieu of
 subsistence in an amount not more than 
the amount to which the member would be 
entitled if the member were performing  
travel in connection with a temporary   
duty assignment4  7#c7 ,gift rule waiver
 ,the ,secretary of ,defense may waive  
any rule of the ,department of ,defense 
regarding ethics or the receipt of gifts
 with respect to any assistance provided
 to a member of the ,armed ,forces for  
travel or per diem expenses incidental  
to receiving treatment under this       
section4  7h7 ,memoranda of             
understanding ,the ,secretary shall     
enter into memoranda of understandings  
with civilian institutions for the      
purpose of providing members of the     
,armed ,forces with treatment carried   
out by civilian health care             

practitioners under treatment--  7#a7   
approved by and under the oversight of  
civilian institutional review boards2   
and  7#b7 that would qualify for payment
 under this section4  7i7 ,outreach ,the
 ,secretary of ,defense shall establish 
a process to notify members of the      
,armed ,forces of the opportunity to    
receive treatment pursuant to this      
section4  7j7 ,report to congress ,not  
later than #cj days after the last day  
of each fiscal year during which the    
,secretary is authorized to make        
payments under this section1 the        
,secretary shall submit to ,congress an 
annual report on the implementation of  
this section and any available results  
on investigational treatment studies    
authorized under this section4  7k7     
,termination ,the authority to make a   
payment under this section shall        
terminate on the date that is five years
 after the date of the enactment of this
 ,act4  7l7 ,authorization of           
appropriations ,there is authorized to  

be appropriated to carry out this       
section #aj1jjj1jjj for each fiscal year
 during which the ,secretary is         
authorized to make payments under this  
section4