,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #ciag ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #i1 #bjbj,mr4 ,rounds 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,smith1 ,mr4 ,cramer1 ,ms4 ,collins1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,boozman1 ,mrs4 ,hyde-,smith1 and ,mr4 ,bennet7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to establish a home-based telemental health care demonstration program for purposes of increasing mental health services in rural medically underserved populations and for individuals in farming1 fishing1 and forestry occupations4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,home-,based ,telemental ,health ,care ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds as follows3 7#a7 ,it is estimated that #df1fjj1jjj adults experience mental illness in a given year in the ,united ,states1 with #g4a percent of adults in the ,united ,states living with major depression and #ai4a percent of such adults living with anxiety disorders4 7#b7 ,according to the results from the #bjag ,national ,survey on ,drug ,use and ,health1 #ai4a percent of residents in rural communities aged #ah or older have any mental illness1 or approximately #f1hjj1jjj people2 #d4i percent1 or nearly #a1gjj1jjj rural residents experience serious thoughts of suicide4 7#c7 ,a study by the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention suggests that people in farming1 fishing1 and forestry occupations 7referred to in this section as the ,triple-,f industry7 in the ,united ,states experienced rates of #ge and #gf suicides per #ajj1jjj people in #bjab and #bjae1 respectively4 7#d7 ,the ,,covid-#ai pandemic has put additional stress on people in the ,triple-,f population4 ,the pandemic has caused instability in the markets1 especially as the virus has caused a downturn in food service sales and has closed meat processing plants across the ,nation4 ,this has left farmers with low commodity prices and loss of revenue4 ,additional resources are needed to support the mental health needs of this population4 7#e7 ,while the prevalence of mental illness is similar among rural and urban residents1 the services available to each population are very different4 ,mental health care needs are not met in rural communities due to many challenges1 including accessibility issues due to transportation and geographic isolation1 the stigma of needing or receiving mental health care1 a lack of anonymity when seeking treatment1 shortages of mental health workforce professionals1 and affordability due to a high rate of uninsured residents4 7#f7 ,telemental health1 which is the delivery of mental health services using remote technologies when the patient and provider are separated by distance1 shows promise in helping to alleviate the lack of mental health services in rural areas4 ,traditional telemental health models involve care delivered to a patient at an originating clinical site from a specialist working at a distant site4 ,having the ability to reach mental health professionals from a place of comfort1 such as home1 from a personal device may reduce challenges faced in rural areas and amongst ,triple-,f workers4 7#g7 ,a clinical trial of #bda depressed elderly veterans1 which was conducted by the ,medical ,university of ,south ,carolina and the ,ralph ,h4 ,johnson ,veterans ,affairs ,medical ,center1 and published in the ,journal of ,clinical ,psychiatry1 found that home-based telemental health for depression is well received by patients and delivers as good a quality of life as in-person visits4 #c4 ,mental health services delivered to rural underserved populations via telemental health care ,title ,,iii of the ,public ,health ,service ,act is amended by inserting after section #ccj,k 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #bed;c-#af7 the following3 #ccj,k-#a4 ,mental health services delivered to rural underserved populations via telemental health care 7a7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term covered populations means-- 7,a7 medically underserved populations in rural areas 7as defined in section #ahhf7;d77#b77;,d7 of the ,social ,security ,act72 or 7,b7 populations engaged in a farming1 fishing1 or forestry industry2 7#b7 the term eligible entity means a public or nonprofit private telemental health provider network that offers services that include mental health services provided by professionals trained in mental health2 7#c7 the term farming1 fishing1 or forestry industry means an occupation defined as a farming1 fishing1 or forestry occupation by the ,department of ,labor in accordance with the ,standard ,occupational ,classification ,system2 7#d7 the term home-based telemental means the use of telemental health services where the patient is in his or her own home or other place of comfort2 7#e7 the term medically underserved population has the meaning given such term in section #ccj7;b72 7#f7 the term professional trained in mental health means a psychiatrist1 a qualified mental health professional 7as defined in section #ccj,k71 or another mental health professional acting under the direction of a psychiatrist2 7#g7 the term rural has the meaning given such term by the ,office of ,rural ,health ,policy of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration2 and 7#h7 the term telemental health means the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long distance clinical health care1 patient and professional health-related education1 public health1 and health administration4 7b7 ,program authorized ,the ,secretary1 acting through the ,director of the ,office for the ,advancement of ,telehealth of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration and in coordination with the ,rural ,health ,liaison of the ,department of ,agriculture1 shall award grants to eligible entities to establish demonstration projects for the provision of mental health services to covered populations in their homes1 as delivered remotely by professionals trained in mental health using telemental health care4 7c7 ,use of funds ,recipients of a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to-- 7#a7 deliver home-based telemental health services to covered populations2 and 7#b7 develop comprehensive metrics to measure the quality and impact of home-based telemental health services compared to traditional in-person mental health care4 7d7 ,report ,the ,secretary1 in consultation with the ,secretary of ,agriculture1 #c years after the date on which the program under this section commences1 and #b years thereafter1 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees reports on the impact and quality of care of home-based telemental health care services for covered populations4 7e7 ,authorized use of funds ,out of any amounts made available to the ,secretary1 up to #aj1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years #bjba through #bjbe may be allocated to carrying out the program under this section4 4