Do State and Local Medical Boards Need Federal Grants to Buy Overdose Reversal Drugs? (H.R. 3680)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is H.R. 3680?
(Updated July 21, 2017)
This bill would create a $4 million per year grant program to provide overdose reversal drugs (like Naloxone) to health centers and treatment programs that would be authorized from 2016-2020. The Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) wouldn’t award more than a total of 12 grants, each of which couldn’t exceed more than $200,000 for the year.
State, local, and municipal medical boards or other community stakeholder groups would be eligible to receive grant funds and use them for the following purposes:
Establish a program for co-prescribing overdose reversal drugs with opioid treatment medication;
Tracking the health outcomes of patients in a treatment program;
Purchase opioid reversal drugs for use in a treatment program;
Offset eligible patient co-pays to ensure that cost doesn’t limit participation.
Eligible state entities that base their guidelines on existing co-prescribing methods used by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or nationwide medical societies would receive priority in receiving grants.
Argument in favor
Co-prescribing overdose reversal drugs alongside their treatment program helps save the lives of those at risk of opioid addiction. This bill helps state and local medical boards buy those drugs.
Argument opposed
If state and local medical boards need to purchase these overdose reversal drugs they can spend their own money on them rather than relying on federal grants.
Impact
People at risk of opioid addiction who need overdose reversal drugs; state and local medical boards; and HHS.
Cost of H.R. 3680
A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.
Additional Info
In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) introduced this bill to increase access to overdose reversal drugs for those at risk of opioid addiction through federal grants to state and local medical boards:
“The increase in opioid overdoses is a national crisis that cuts too many lives short and tears too many families apart.Holding this hearing is a positive step in addressing our nation’s overdose epidemic. The solutions put forward here today, like the Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act, would expand access to lifesaving treatment for thousands of Americans and their families.”
This legislation was passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a voice vote, and has the support of three Republican cosponsors.
Of Note: The American Medical Association notes that 41 states have laws granting access to overdose reversal drugs like Naloxone, while 31 have Good Samaritan laws to legally protect people assisting someone experiencing an overdose.
Media:
- Sponsoring Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) Press Release
- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Press Release
- Fox 5 DC
- Huffington Post
- American Medical Association (Context)
(Photo Credit: Flickr user governortomwolf)
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