(1) Many veterans and their families have been 
affected by the national opioid epidemic caused in 
part by the prescription of opioid medication to 
manage pain. 
(2) Prescription opioid overdose rates for vet-
erans receiving medical care furnished by the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs are twice the national 
average. 
(3) More than 50 percent of veterans receiving 
such care are suffering from chronic pain. 
(4) Almost one in three veterans receiving such 
care are prescribed opioids to manage pain. 
(5) Many veterans prescribed opioids for the 
management of chronic pain are at risk of devel-
oping a dependency on opioids. 
(6) Many veterans receive health care from both 
the Department and community providers but the 
lack of care coordination among the Department and 
community providers when veterans receive pur-
chased care places veterans at risk for poor health 
outcomes and results in inefficient use of finite 
health care resources. 
(7) Veteran-centric care coordination is associ-
ated with improved patient outcomes, as Department 
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and non-Department health care teams coordinate 
and collaborate to provide the best care for veterans. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) veterans suffering from opioid dependency 
should receive timely access to treatment and social 
services at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities 
or through qualified community providers and 
should have care and services managed and coordi-
nated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
(2) veterans who are authorized by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to receive opioid addiction 
treatment in the community must not lose the high 
quality, safety, care coordination, and other veteran- 
centric elements that the health care system of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs provides; and 
(3) if the Secretary purchases care for veterans 
from a community provider, such care must be se-
cured in a cost-effective manner, in a way that com-
plements the larger health care system of the De-
partment by using industry standards for care and 
costs. 
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SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE TREATMENT FOR 
VETERANS SUFFERING FROM OPIOID ADDIC-
TION AND CHRONIC PAIN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 120 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a pilot program 
under which the Secretary provides health and social serv-
ices and coordination of care and case management to cov-
ered veterans in need of treatment for opioid addiction and 
chronic pain through facilities of the Department and 
through qualified non-Department health care providers. 
(b) PROGRAM LOCATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program shall be 
carried out within at least five areas within different 
States. 
(2) SELECTION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se-
lect five States with Department medical facili-
ties to participate in the pilot program. Each of 
the five Department facilities selected shall be 
located in States that demonstrate— 
(i) the need for additional resources to 
provide health care services, including 
mental health, chronic pain management 
and social services to veterans in need of 
treatment for opioid abuse based upon the 
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community assessment in subsection (a) of 
this section; 
(ii) demographic, population, and cen-
sus data showing the highest rates per 
capita of opioid addiction in the United 
States or greater demand in the veteran 
patient population than capacity in facili-
ties of the Department for treatment for 
opioid addiction; and 
(iii) lack of sufficient Department ca-
pacity to meet the demand of all patients 
in need of treatment for opioid addiction. 
(B) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—In addition 
to the requirements in subparagraph (A), not 
fewer than four of the five selected States shall 
include— 
(i) at least one highly rural county, as 
determined by the Secretary upon consid-
eration of the most recent decennial census 
with the highest per capita rate of opioid 
addiction; 
(ii) an urban county as determined by 
the Secretary upon consideration of the 
most recent decennial census with the larg-
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est population per capita of opioid addic-
tion; 
(iii) a county as determined by the 
Secretary in a State with one of the high-
est statistically significant drug and opioid 
overdose death rate increases from 2013 to 
2014 according to the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention and a low expendi-
ture of funding per capita on substance 
abuse treatment in comparison to other 
States; and 
(iv) a county as determined by the 
Secretary in a State with a high rate per 
capita of veterans diagnosed with chronic 
pain and prescribed prescription opioids. 
(c) PROVISION
OF
SERVICES
THROUGH
CON-
TRACT.—The Secretary may provide health care services 
to veterans under the pilot program by entering into con-
tracts with non-Department health care providers which 
are qualified to provide such services, as determined by 
the Secretary. 
(d) EXCHANGE OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.—In con-
ducting the pilot program under this section, the Secretary 
shall develop and use a functional capability to provide for 
the exchange of appropriate medical information between 
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the Department and any non-Department provider with 
which the Secretary enters into a contract under sub-
section (c). 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than the 30 days after the 
end of each year in which the pilot program under this 
section is conducted, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report which includes— 
(1) the assessment of the Secretary of the pilot 
program during the preceding year, including its 
cost, volume, quality, patient satisfaction, benefit to 
veterans, and such other findings and conclusions 
with respect to the pilot program as the Secretary 
considers appropriate; and 
(2) such recommendations as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate regarding— 
(A) the continuation of the pilot program; 
(B) extension of the pilot program to addi-
tional Veterans Integrated Service Networks of 
the Department; and 
(C) making the pilot program permanent. 
(f) COVERED VETERAN.—In this section, the term 
‘‘covered veteran’’ means a veteran who— 
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(1) is enrolled in the system of patient enroll-
ment established under section 1705(a) of title 38, 
United States Code, as of the date of the commence-
ment of the pilot program under subsection (a)(2); 
(2) is eligible for health care under section 
1710(e)(3)(C) of title 38, United States Code; or 
(3) is determined by the Secretary to be in need 
of treatment for opioid addiction and chronic pain. 
(g) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out a 
pilot program under this section shall terminate on the 
date that is three years after the date of the commence-
ment of the pilot program. 
SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF DEPARTMENT AND NON-DEPART-
MENT CAPABILITIES TO TREAT OPIOID DE-
PENDENCY AND ENSURE ACCESS TO NEEDED 
HEALTH CARE SERVICES. 
(a) ASSESSMENT OF DEPARTMENT CAPABILITIES.— 
The Secretary shall conduct an assessment of the capabili-
ties of the Department of Veterans Affairs, using such 
data, including demographic data and patient access data, 
as the Secretary determines necessary to provide— 
(1) health care services related to the treatment 
of opioid dependency and abuse, including mental 
health, opioid agonist treatment, social services, and 
non-opioid chronic pain management necessary for 
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treating opioid addiction nationally, regionally, and 
locally; 
(2) management of chronic pain without the 
long-term use of opioids, including alternative thera-
pies such as physical therapy, chiropractic care, acu-
puncture, massage, exercise programs, and other 
such evidence-based and experimental treatments; 
(3) evidence-based methods for safely reducing 
the dose and duration of the prescription of opioids 
for patients; 
(4) methods by which health care services are 
coordinated by the Department when care is pro-
vided by community providers; and 
(5) the manner by which the Department en-
sures placement of veterans in need of treatment for 
opioid dependency in treatment programs within a 
clinically sufficient time period according to pub-
lished practice guidelines for the treatment of pa-
tients with opioid dependency. 
(b) ASSESSMENT OF NON-DEPARTMENT CAPABILI-
TIES.—In addition to the assessment required under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall concurrently conduct an 
assessment of community providers to provide health care, 
mental health, social services, and alternative chronic pain 
management treatments necessary for the treatment of 
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veterans diagnosed with an opioid addiction and for the 
treatment of veterans suffering from chronic pain. 
(c) COMMUNITY PROVIDERS.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘community provider’’ means a non-Department of 
Veterans Affairs health care provider or social services 
provider determined by the Secretary as capable of pro-
viding health care services related to the treatment of 
opioid dependency and abuse, including mental health, 
opioid agonist treatment, social services, and non-opioid 
chronic pain management. 
(d) REPORT.—At the conclusion of the assessments 
conducted under this section, and not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the Senate and House of Representatives a comprehensive 
summary of the results of the assessments, including any 
implementation plans resulting from such assessments, 
and any recommendations for ways to better enable the 
Department to provide health care services within the pro-
grams and facilities of the Department and in coordina-
tion with community providers to veterans needing treat-
ment for pain management and opioid addiction. 
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SEC. 5. INCREASED ACCESS TO NALOXONE AND OTHER 
TREATMENTS FOR REVERSING OPIOID OVER-
DOSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall require all appropriate health care facilities of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and all Vet Centers and 
other Department facilities providing mental health and 
social services to veterans, to have a supply of naloxone 
or other medication for reversing opioid overdose. 
(b) TRAINING ON USE OF MEDICATION.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that all appropriate employees of the 
Department who are employed at facilities referred to in 
subsection (a) receive training on the administration of 
naloxone or other medication for reversing opioid overdose. 
Æ 
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