I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5699 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop guidance 

on pain management and the prevention of opioid use disorder for hospitals receiving payment under part A of the Medicare program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2018 

Mr. CURBELO of Florida (for himself and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

develop guidance on pain management and the prevention of opioid use disorder for hospitals receiving payment under part A of the Medicare program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hospital Opioid Solu5 tions Toolkit Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘HOST Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEVELOPING GUIDANCE ON PAIN MANAGEMENT 

2 AND OPIOID USE DISORDER PREVENTION 

3 FOR HOSPITALS RECEIVING PAYMENT 

4 UNDER PART A OF THE MEDICARE PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2019, 

6 the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this sec7 tion referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall develop and pub8 lish on the public website of the Centers for Medicare & 

9 Medicaid Services guidance for hospitals receiving pay10 ment under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c et seq.) on pain management strate12 gies and opioid use disorder prevention strategies with re13 spect to individuals entitled to benefits under such part. 

14 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the guidance de15 scribed in subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with 

16 relevant stakeholders, including— 

17 (1) medical professional organizations; 

18 (2) providers and suppliers of services (as such 

19 terms are defined in section 1861 of the Social Secu20 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x)); 

21 (3) patient advocacy organizations and organi22 zations representing Medicare beneficiaries; and 

23 (4) other entities determined appropriate by the 

24 Secretary. 


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1 (c) CONTENTS.—The guidance described in sub2 section (a) shall include, with respect to hospitals and indi3 viduals described in such subsection, the following: 

4 (1) Best practices regarding evidence-based 

5 screening and practitioner education initiatives relat6 ing to screening and treatment protocols for opioid 

7 use disorder, including— 

8 (A) methods to identify such individuals 

9 at-risk of opioid use disorder, including risk 

10 stratification; 

11 (B) ways to prevent, recognize, and treat 

12 opioid overdoses; and 

13 (C) resources available to such individuals, 

14 such as opioid treatment programs, peer sup15 port groups, and other recovery programs. 

16 (2) Best practices for such hospitals to educate 

17 practitioners furnishing items and services at such 

18 hospital with respect to pain management and sub19 stance use disorders, including education on— 

20 (A) the adverse effects of prolonged opioid 

21 use; 

22 (B) alternative, evidence-based, non-phar23 macological pain management treatments; 

24 (C) monitoring programs for individuals 

25 who have been prescribed opioids; and 


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1 (D) the prescribing of naloxone along with 

2 an initial opioid prescription. 

3 (3) Best practices for such hospitals to make 

4 such individuals aware of the risks associated with 

5 opioid use (which may include use of the notification 

6 template described in paragraph (4)). 

7 (4) A notification template developed by the 

8 Secretary for such individuals who are prescribed an 

9 opioid that— 

10 (A) explains the risks and side effects asso11 ciated with opioid use (including the risks of 

12 addiction and overdose) and the importance of 

13 adhering to the prescribed treatment regimen, 

14 avoiding medications that may have an adverse 

15 interaction with such opioid, and storing such 

16 opioid safely and securely; 

17 (B) highlights multimodal and evidence18 based non-opioid alternatives for pain manage19 ment; 

20 (C) encourages such individuals to talk to 

21 their health care providers about such alter22 natives; 

23 (D) provides for a method (through signa24 ture or otherwise) for such an individual, or 


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1 person acting on such individual’s behalf, to ac2 knowledge receipt of such notification template; 

3 (E) is worded in an easily understandable 

4 manner and made available in multiple lan5 guages determined appropriate by the Sec6 retary; and 

7 (F) includes any other information deter8 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

9 (5) Best practices for such hospital to track 

10 opioid prescribing trends by practitioners furnishing 

11 items and services at such hospital, including— 

12 (A) ways for such hospital to establish tar13 get levels with respect to opioids prescribed by 

14 such practitioners; 

15 (B) guidance on checking the medical 

16 records of such individuals against information 

17 included in prescription drug monitoring pro18 grams; 

19 (C) strategies to reduce long-term opioid 

20 prescriptions; and 

21 (D) methods to identify such practitioners 

22 who may be over-prescribing opioids. 

23 (6) Other information the Secretary determines 

24 appropriate, including any such information from 

25 the Opioid Safety Initiative established by the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 15, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5699.IH H5699

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1 partment of Veterans Affairs or the Opioid Overdose 

2 Prevention Toolkit published by the Substance 

3 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 

Æ 


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