North Carolina 2025 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H572 Introduced / Bill

Filed 03/27/2025

                    GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
SESSION 2025 
H 	D 
HOUSE BILL DRH40337-LM-109  
 
 
 
Short Title: Veterans/eTMS Pilot Program. 	(Public) 
Sponsors: Representative Willis. 
Referred to:  
 
*DRH40337 -LM-109* 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AND VETERAN S AFFAIRS 2 
TO SELECT A PROVIDER TO ESTABLISH A STATEWIDE PILOT PROGRAM TO 3 
MAKE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM COMBINED TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC 4 
STIMULATION TREATMENT AVAILABLE FOR VETERANS, FIRST RESPONDERS, 5 
AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS. 6 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7 
SECTION 1.(a) The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall select a 8 
provider to establish a statewide pilot program to make eTMS available for veterans, first 9 
responders, and immediate family members of veterans and first responders experiencing one or 10 
more of the conditions listed in subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this act, the 11 
following definitions shall apply: 12 
(1) Electroencephalogram combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation 13 
Treatment (eTMS). โ€“ Treatment in which transcranial magnetic stimulation 14 
frequency pulses are tuned to the patient's physiology and biometric data. 15 
(2) Immediate family. โ€“ A spouse, child, stepchild, parent, or stepparent. 16 
(3) Veteran. โ€“ A person who (i) served in the Armed Forces of the United States 17 
on active duty, for reasons other than training, and has been discharged under 18 
other than dishonorable conditions, (ii) served in a reserve component as 19 
defined in 38 U.S.C. ยง 101(27), and (iii) served in the National Guard of any 20 
state. 21 
SECTION 1.(b) The conditions that shall be the subject of the pilot program are the 22 
following: 23 
(1) Substance use disorders. 24 
(2) Mental illness. 25 
(3) Sleep disorders. 26 
(4) Traumatic brain injuries. 27 
(5) Sexual trauma. 28 
(6) Posttraumatic stress disorder and accompanying comorbidities. 29 
(7) Concussions. 30 
(8) Other brain trauma. 31 
(9) Quality of life issues affecting human performance, including issues related 32 
to or resulting from problems with cognition and problems maintaining 33 
attention, concentration, or focus. 34 
SECTION 1.(c) The provider selected by the Department to conduct the pilot 35 
program must display a history of serving veteran and first responder populations at a statewide 36 
H.B. 572
Mar 27, 2025
HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina 	Session 2025 
Page 2  	DRH40337-LM-109 
level. The provider shall establish a network for in-person and off-site care with the goal of 1 
providing statewide access. Consideration shall be provided to locations with a large population 2 
of first responders and veterans. In addition to traditional eTMS devices, the provider may utilize 3 
nonmedical portable magnetic stimulation devices to improve access to underserved populations 4 
in remote areas or to be used to serve as a pre-post treatment or a stand-alone device. The provider 5 
shall be required to establish and operate a clinical practice and to evaluate outcomes of such 6 
clinical practice. 7 
SECTION 1.(d) At a minimum, the pilot program shall include all of the following: 8 
(1) The establishment of a peer-to-peer support network by the provider made 9 
available to all individuals receiving treatment under the program. 10 
(2) The requirement that each individual who receives treatment under the 11 
program also must receive neurophysiological monitoring, monitoring for 12 
symptoms of substance use and other mental health disorders, and access to 13 
counseling and wellness programming. Each individual who receives 14 
treatment must also participate in the peer-to-peer support network established 15 
by the provider. 16 
(3) The establishment of protocols which include the use of adopted stimulation 17 
frequency and intensity modulation based on EEGs done on days 0, 10, and 18 
20 and motor threshold testing, as well as clinical symptoms, signs, and 19 
biometrics. 20 
(4) The requirement that protocols and outcomes of any treatment provided by 21 
the clinical practice shall be collected and reported by the provider not later 22 
than September 15, 2026, to the Department, the Joint Legislative Oversight 23 
Committee on General Government, and the Fiscal Research Division. The 24 
report shall include the bio-data metrics and all expenditures made using State 25 
funds. 26 
SECTION 1.(e) The Department may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this 27 
act. 28 
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. 29