POINTS Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The POINTS Act of 2026 creates competitive Public Health Service Act grants for states, Indian Tribes, and Tribal organizations to establish, improve, or expand clinical gambling-addiction services. Funds may support provider training, prevention and awareness, screening, brief intervention, referral, in-person or telehealth treatment, peer support, help lines, and other approved services. Programs must provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care.
Grant priority goes to applicants serving disproportionately affected populations, including men, youth, Native Americans, members of the Armed Forces, and veterans; operating in primary care; partnering with a community organization; or working in a health professional shortage area or rural target area. Applications must explain how the project will increase access and the share of people served. The Assistant Secretary must provide technical assistance and report annually to four congressional committees beginning December 29, 2027.
For fiscal year 2027, the bill authorizes an amount equal to 33 percent of federal wagering-excise-tax receipts collected under section 4401(a) for calendar year 2025. The authorized amount is adjusted for inflation for fiscal years 2028 through 2032. Authorization permits later appropriations but does not itself guarantee that the full amount will be spent.
Who Benefits and How
People at risk of or experiencing gambling addiction benefit from expanded prevention, screening, treatment, peer support, and real-time help. States, Tribal governments, and Tribal health organizations gain competitive funding. Primary-care providers and behavioral-health workers receive training. Veterans, service members, youth, Native American communities, and residents of rural shortage areas receive priority consideration. Community organizations and help-line operators may gain funded partnerships.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State and Tribal grant applicants must prepare competitive applications, quantify access gains, use funds only for approved services, and support effectiveness review. HHS grant administrators must run competitions, provide technical assistance, monitor awards, and produce annual reports. Health-care providers receiving training must adopt screening and referral workflows. Federal public-health accounts bear costs to the extent Congress appropriates the authorized funds.
Key Provisions
- Establishes competitive gambling-addiction service grants for states and Tribal applicants.
- Funds prevention, screening, intervention, treatment, peer support, and help lines.
- Requires culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
- Prioritizes affected populations, primary care, community partnerships, and shortage areas.
- Requires applications to describe increased access and service reach.
- Directs federal technical assistance for every grantee.
- Requires annual effectiveness reports beginning December 29, 2027.
- Authorizes a 2027 wagering-tax-based amount and inflation adjustments through 2032.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates competitive federal grants for states, Tribes, and Tribal organizations to prevent, screen, assess, intervene in, and treat clinical gambling addiction, with priority populations, technical assistance, annual reporting, and a six-year authorization formula.
Key Policy Areas
Behavioral Health, Gambling Addiction, Federal Grants, Tribal Health, Veterans, Rural Health, Public Health Workforce
Primary Purpose
Creates competitive federal grants for states, Tribes, and Tribal organizations to prevent, screen, assess, intervene in, and treat clinical gambling addiction, with priority populations, technical assistance, annual reporting, and a six-year authorization formula.
Policy Domains
Section 2 gambling-addiction prevention and treatment grants
Identified Gains
- Patients experiencing clinical gambling addiction
- People at risk of gambling addiction
- State behavioral-health programs
- Tribal health programs
- Primary-care providers receiving gambling screening training
- Veterans seeking gambling-addiction services
- Rural communities in health professional shortage areas
Identified Costs
- State gambling-service grant applicants
- Tribal gambling-service grant applicants
- HHS behavioral-health grant administrators
- Health providers implementing screening workflows
- Federal gambling-treatment grant accounts
- Congressional committees reviewing annual reports
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Mrs. Houchin (for herself, Ms. Salinas, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, and Mr. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Health providers implementing screening workflows, Patients experiencing clinical gambling addiction, People at risk of gambling addiction
State behavioral-health programs, State gambling-service grant applicants
Federal gambling-treatment grant accounts, HHS behavioral-health grant administrators
Tribal gambling-service grant applicants, Tribal health programs
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "patient"
- → Individual at risk of or experiencing clinical gambling addiction
- "eligible_applicant"
- → State, Indian Tribe, or Tribal organization applying competitively
- "assistant_secretary"
- → Public Health Service Act Assistant Secretary administering grants
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A state, Indian Tribe, or Tribal organization selected through the competitive grant process.
Gambling-addiction prevention, provider training, screening, intervention, referral, treatment, peer support, help-line, or approved innovative services.
For 2027, 33 percent of specified 2025 wagering-tax receipts, adjusted by CPI-U for fiscal years 2028 through 2032.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology