H.R. 1646 — what changed

changed This Act may be cited as the “Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Act of 2019” Act” or the “HERO Act of 2019” .Act”.

changed The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 317T 317U of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 247b–23) the following:

changed “317U. “317V. Data system to capture national public safety officer suicide incidence

changed “(a) In general—The Secretary, acting primarily through in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in coordination with other agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall—

“(1) develop and maintain a data system, to be known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, for the purposes of—

“(A) collecting data on the suicide incidence among public safety officers; and

“(B) facilitating the study of successful interventions to reduce suicide among public safety officers; and

“(2) integrate such system into the National Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Secretary determines such integration to be consistent with the purposes described in paragraph (1).

“(b) Data collection—In collecting data for the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall, at a minimum, collect the following information:

“(1) The total number of suicides in the United States among all public safety officers in a given calendar year.

“(2) Suicide rates for public safety officers in a given calendar year, disaggregated by—

“(A) age and gender of the public safety officer;

“(B) State;

“(C) occupation; including both the individual’s role in their public safety agency and their primary occupation in the case of volunteer public safety officers;

changed “(D) where available, the status of the public safety officer as volunteer, paid-on-call, or career; and

“(E) status of the public safety officer as active or retired.

changed “(c) Consultation during development—In developing the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal experts to determine the best means to collect data regarding suicide incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and effective manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include include, as appropriate, the following:

“(1) Public health experts with experience in developing and maintaining suicide registries.

“(2) Organizations that track suicide among public safety officers.

“(3) Mental health experts with experience in studying suicide and other profession-related traumatic stress.

“(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and treating mental health issues.

“(5) Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, and career public safety officers.

“(6) Relevant national police, and fire and emergency medical services, organizations.

changed “(d) Data privacy and security—In developing and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable Federal and State privacy and security protections are followed to ensure that—

“(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims and their families are protected, including so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny benefits; and

“(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unauthorized access.

“(e) Reporting

changed “(1) Annual report—Not later than one year 2 years after the date of enactment of the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Act of 2019, Act, and annually biannually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on the suicide incidence among public safety officers. Each such report shall—

changed “(A) include the number and rate of such suicide incidence dis­ag­gre­gat­ed incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, and State of employment;

changed “(B) identify risk factors characteristics and contributing circumstances for suicide among public safety officers;

“(C) disaggregate rates of suicide by—

“(i) occupation;

“(ii) status as volunteer, paid-on-call, or career; and

“(iii) status as active or retired;

“(D) include recommendations for further study regarding the suicide incidence among public safety officers;

“(E) specify in detail, if found, any obstacles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers and include recommended improvements to overcome such obstacles;

“(F) identify options for interventions to reduce suicide among public safety officers; and

changed “(G) describe procedures to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims and their families, as described in subsection (d)(1).

“(2) Public availability—Upon the submission of each report to the Congress under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly available on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“(f) Definition—In this section, the term public safety officer means—

“(1) a public safety officer as defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968; or

“(2) a public safety telecommunicator as described in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Standard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office of Management and Budget (2018).

“(g) Prohibited use of information—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an individual is identified as deceased based on information contained in the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such information may not be used to deny or rescind life insurance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the deceased individual.”

added “320B. Peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs within fire departments and emergency medical service agencies

added “(a) In general—The Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs within fire departments and emergency medical services agencies.

added “(b) Program description—A peer-support behavioral health and wellness program funded under this section shall—

added “(1) use career and volunteer members of fire departments or emergency medical services agencies to serve as peer counselors;

added “(2) provide training to members of career, volunteer, and combination fire departments or emergency medical service agencies to serve as such peer counselors;

added “(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to provide such training; and

added “(4) disseminate such information and materials as are necessary to conduct the program.

added “(c) Definition—In this section:

added “(1) The term eligible entity means a nonprofit organization with expertise and experience with respect to the health and life safety of members of fire and emergency medical services agencies.

added “(2) The term member—

added “(A) with respect to an emergency medical services agency, means an employee, regardless of rank or whether they receive compensation (as defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968); and

added “(B) with respect to a fire department, means a firefighter (as defined in section 1204(4) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968).”

removed Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

removed “320B. Peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs within fire departments and emergency medical service agencies

removed “(a) In general—The Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs within fire departments and emergency medical services agencies.

removed “(b) Program description—A peer-support behavioral health and wellness program funded under this section shall—

removed “(1) use career and volunteer members of fire departments or emergency medical services agencies to serve as peer counselors;

removed “(2) provide training to members of career, volunteer, and combination fire departments or emergency medical service agencies to serve as such peer counselors;

removed “(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to provide such training; and

removed “(4) disseminate such information and materials as are necessary to conduct the program.

removed “(c) Definition—In this section:

removed “(1) The term eligible entity means a nonprofit organization with expertise and experience with respect to the health and life safety of members of fire and emergency medical services agencies.

removed “(2) The term member—

removed “(A) with respect to an emergency medical services agency, means an employee, regardless of rank or whether they receive compensation (as defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284(7)); and

removed “(B) with respect to a fire department, means a firefighter (as defined in section 1204(4) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284(4)).”

added Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

added “320C. Health care provider behavioral health and wellness programs

added “(a) In general—The Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhancing behavioral health and wellness programs for health care providers.

added “(b) Program description—A behavioral health and wellness program funded under this section shall—

added “(1) provide confidential support services for health care providers to help handle stressful or traumatic patient-related events, including counseling services and wellness seminars;

added “(2) provide training to health care providers to serve as peer counselors to other health care providers;

added “(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to provide such training; and

added “(4) disseminate such information and materials as are necessary to conduct such training and provide such peer counseling.

added “(c) Definitions—In this section, the term “eligible entity” means a hospital, including a critical access hospital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of the Social Security Act) or a disproportionate share hospital (as defined under section 1923(a)(1)(A) of such Act), a Federally-qualified health center (as defined in section 1905(1)(2)(B) of such Act), or any other health care facility.”