The bill creates a home-based telemental health care grant program to deliver mental health and substance use services to rural underserved populations and to individuals in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations via telehealth in patients’ homes or other places of comfort. It defines key terms, including what counts as a covered population and who can be an eligible entity, and it authorizes the Secretary to award grants to public or nonprofit telemental health provider networks.
The program also aims to build the necessary telehealth infrastructure—such as broadband access and devices for patients—and to measure quality and impact, with formal reporting requirements to Congress.
At a Glance
What It Does
Create a new grant program under 330K-1 to expand home-based telemental health and substance use services for defined rural and farming/fishing/forestry populations, delivered remotely by trained professionals.
Who It Affects
Public or nonprofit telemental health provider networks; residents in rural health professional shortage areas and workers in farming, fishing, or forestry industries; rural health providers and allied agencies.
Why It Matters
Expands access to mental health and substance use care in underserved rural areas where travel time and workforce gaps limit in-person services; advances telehealth infrastructure to support long‑distance care.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The bill adds a new section to the Public Health Service Act to support home-based telemental health care for rural communities and for workers in farming, fishing, and forestry. It defines who is eligible to receive grants and who can deliver services, focusing on networks that provide mental health and substance use care through telehealth.
Grants are intended to fund direct service delivery, measurement of quality and outcomes, and the infrastructure that makes telehealth possible in patients’ homes, such as broadband expansion and devices. The program is capped in funding—up to $10 million per fiscal year from 2025 through 2029—and includes reporting requirements to Congress after three years and again two years later to assess impact and quality of care.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates a home-based telemental health grant program under 330K-1 to reach rural and farming-related populations.
Eligible entities are public or nonprofit telemental health provider networks delivering mental health and substance use services.
Covered populations include rural health professional shortage areas and workers in farming, fishing, or forestry sectors.
The program funds expand broadband, devices, and other technology to deliver telemental health.
Funding up to $10 million per year (FY 2025–2029) with congressionally mandated impact reports after 3 years and 2 years.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Definitions and scope
This section defines the core terms: who counts as a ‘covered population,’ what constitutes a ‘home-based telemental’ service, who is an eligible entity, and what qualifies as a rural occupation. It also clarifies the geographic and occupational scope—rural health professional shortage areas and farming, fishing, or forestry workers—and sets the framework for delivering services remotely by professionals trained in mental health and substance use.
Program authorization
The Secretary, with the Rural Health Liaison of the Department of Agriculture, is authorized to award grants to eligible telemental health provider networks. The aim is to expand and enhance access to mental health and substance use services delivered at patients’ homes or other places of comfort via telehealth, leveraging existing public health structures.
Use of funds
Grant funds must be used to deliver services to covered populations, develop metrics to measure quality and impact versus in-person care, and support telehealth infrastructure. Eligible uses include expanding broadband access, providing patient devices, and subsidizing technology costs needed to deliver high-quality telemental health care.
Reporting
The Secretary, with the Secretary of Agriculture, must report to the appropriate congressional committees at 3 years after program commencement and again 2 years later on impact and quality of care of home-based telemental health services for covered populations.
Authorized use of funds cap
Up to $10,000,000 may be allocated for the program in each fiscal year from 2025 through 2029, establishing a steady funding stream to support program operations and infrastructure.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Healthcare across all five countries.
Explore Healthcare in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Rural residents in health professional shortage areas gain closer access to mental health and substance use services without long travel times.
- Farm, fishing, and forestry workers can obtain confidential, convenient telemental health care from home or other comfortable settings.
- Public or nonprofit telemental health provider networks expand reach and diversify patient cohorts while maintaining clinical standards.
- Rural clinics and health systems improve preventive care capabilities through remote monitoring and consistent follow-up.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal program administration and grant oversight costs borne by the federal government (DHHS) for program implementation and monitoring.
- Recipient organizations may incur upfront investments in broadband, devices for patients, and telehealth IT infrastructure.
- State and local agencies may bear compliance and reporting costs associated with grant management and performance measurement.
- Private device manufacturers or broadband providers may see increased demand from grant-supported patient access initiatives.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
Balancing rapid expansion of home-based telemental health access with the need for robust privacy, licensure compatibility, and sustainable funding in rural regions.
The bill presumes that home-based telemental health will improve access and outcomes in rural populations, but it relies on successful deployment of telehealth infrastructure and cross-sector coordination (public health, agriculture, and health services). A key unresolved question is how licensure, privacy, and data security will be managed across state lines when patients and clinicians operate from home, given the current patchwork of telehealth regulations.
Additionally, the bill does not specify maintenance or long-term financing beyond the 2025–2029 funding window, raising questions about durability and scale of the program once initial grant funding ends.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.