I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5796 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants 

for eligible entities to provide technical assistance to outlier prescribers 

of opioids. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2018 

Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, and Mr. THOMPSON

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to provide grants for eligible entities to provide technical 

assistance to outlier prescribers of opioids. 

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 ‘‘Responsible Education 

5 Achieves Care and Healthy Outcomes for Users’ Treat6 ment Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘REACH OUT Act of 2018’’. 


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•HR 5796 IH

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO 

2 OUTLIER PRESCRIBERS OF OPIOIDS. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Health 

4 and Human Services (in this section referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, through the Centers for Medicare & 

6 Medicaid Services, award grants, contracts, or cooperative 

7 agreements to eligible entities for the purposes described 

8 in subsection (b). 

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants, contracts, and coopera10 tive agreements awarded under subsection (a) shall be 

11 used to support eligible entities through technical assist12 ance— 

13 (1) to educate and provide outreach to outlier 

14 prescribers of opioids about best practices for pre15 scribing opioids; 

16 (2) to educate and provide outreach to outlier 

17 prescribers of opioids about non-opioid pain manage18 ment therapies; and 

19 (3) to reduce the amount of opioid prescriptions 

20 prescribed by outlier prescribers of opioids. 

21 (c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity seeking to re22 ceive a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

23 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an applica24 tion, at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

25 information as the Secretary may require. 


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1 (d) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding 

2 grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under this 

3 section, the Secretary shall prioritize establishing technical 

4 assistance resources in each State. 

5 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means— 

8 (A) an organization— 

9 (i) that has demonstrated experience 

10 providing technical assistance to health 

11 care professionals on a State or regional 

12 basis; and 

13 (ii) that has at least— 

14 (I) one individual who is a rep15 resentative of consumers on its gov16 erning body; and 

17 (II) one individual who is a rep18 resentative of health care providers on 

19 its governing body; or 

20 (B) an entity that is a quality improve21 ment entity with a contract under part B of 

22 title XI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 1320c et seq.). 

24 (2) OUTLIER PRESCRIBER OF OPIOIDS.—The 

25 term ‘‘outlier prescriber of opioids’’ means a preVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5796.IH H5796

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1 scriber, identified by the Secretary of Health and 

2 Human Services (through use of prescriber informa3 tion provided by prescriber National Provider Identi4 fiers included pursuant to section 1860D–4(c)(4)(A) 

5 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 

6 104(c)(4)(A)) on claims for covered part D drugs for 

7 part D eligible individuals enrolled in prescription 

8 drug plans under part D of title XVIII of such Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–101 et seq.) and MA–PD plans 

10 under part C of such title (42 U.S.C. 1395w–21 et 

11 seq.)) as prescribing, as compared to other pre12 scribers in the specialty of the prescriber and geo13 graphic area, amounts of opioids in excess of a 

14 threshold (and other criteria) specified by the Sec15 retary, after consultation with stakeholders. 

16 (3) PRESCRIBERS.—The term ‘‘prescriber’’ 

17 means any health care professional, including a 

18 nurse practitioner or physician assistant, who is li19 censed to prescribe opioids by the State or territory 

20 in which such professional practices. 

21 (f) FUNDING.—For purposes of implementing this 

22 section, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

23 provide for the transfer from the Federal Supplementary 

24 Medical Insurance Trust Fund established under section 

25 1841 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395t) to the 


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1 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program Man2 agement Account of $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2019. 

3 Amounts transferred under this subparagraph shall re4 main available until expended. 

Æ 


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