SEC. 707.

Pilot program to help certain members of the Armed Forces stop smoking

DIVISION A · TITLE VII: Health Care Provisions · SUBTITLE A: TRICARE and Other Health Benefits

Source
SECTION TEXT · SEC. 707.

(a) Authority

Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense may carry out a one-year pilot program to furnish to covered members the alternatives to smoking specified in subsection (b)—

(1)

to help such covered members stop smoking; and

(2)

to improve the health of such covered members.

(b) Alternatives to smoking

The alternatives to smoking specified in this subsection are—

(1)

counseling;

(2)

nicotine gum;

(3)

nicotine patches;

(4)

electric nicotine delivery systems;

(5)

nicotine pouches; and

(6)

heat-not-burn products.

(c) Participation

If the Secretary carries out the pilot program under subsection (a), the pilot program shall operate—

(1)

in not less than one covered Armed Force; and

(2)

at not less than one military installation at which covered members serve in numbers that exceed the national average for—

(A)

smoking cigarettes or other combustible tobacco products;

(B)

the population of Black Americans;

(C)

the population of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans;

(D)

the population of Hispanic Americans; and

(E)

the population of Appalachian Americans.

(d) Report

Not later than one year after the date on which the pilot program under subsection (a) is completed, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report regarding the results of the pilot program, including the determination of the Secretary regarding—

(1)

whether the pilot program helped covered members stop smoking;

(2)

the alternatives specified in subsection (b) that are most effective in helping covered members to stop smoking;

(3)

gaps in health care services available to covered members who belong to the populations described in subsection (c)(2); and

(4)

the recommendation of the Secretary whether to expand, extend, or make permanent the pilot program.

(e) Definitions

In this section:

(1)

The term covered Armed Force means the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space Force.

(2)

The term covered member means a member of a covered Armed Force—

(A)

serving on active duty; and

(B)

who smokes at least one cigarette (or other combustible tobacco product) per week.