Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Co-Prescribing to Re-
duce Overdoses Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. OPIOID OVERDOSE REVERSAL DRUGS PRESCRIBING 
GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than six months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services may establish, 
in accordance with this section, a five-year opioid 
overdose reversal drugs prescribing grant program (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘grant program’’). 
(2) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant made 
under this section may not be for more than $200,000 
per grant year. 
(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a federally 
qualified health center (as defined in section 1861(aa) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)), an 
opioid treatment program under part 8 of title 42, 
Code of Federal Regulations, any practitioner dis-
pensing narcotic drugs pursuant to section 303(g) of 
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(g)), or 
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any other entity that the Secretary deems appro-
priate. 
(4) PRESCRIBING.—For purposes of this section 
and section 3, the term ‘‘prescribing’’ means, with re-
spect to an opioid overdose reversal drug, such as 
naloxone, the practice of prescribing such drug— 
(A) in conjunction with an opioid prescrip-
tion for patients at an elevated risk of overdose; 
(B) in conjunction with an opioid agonist 
approved under section 505 of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355) for the 
treatment of opioid abuse disorder; 
(C) to the caregiver or a close relative of pa-
tients at an elevated risk of overdose from 
opioids; or 
(D) in other circumstances, as identified by 
the Secretary, in which a provider identifies a 
patient is at an elevated risk for an intentional 
or unintentional drug overdose from heroin or 
prescription opioid therapies. 
(b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, in such form and 
manner as specified by the Secretary, an application that 
describes— 
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(1) the extent to which the area to which the en-
tity will furnish services through use of the grant is 
experiencing significant morbidity and mortality 
caused by opioid abuse; 
(2) the criteria that will be used to identify eligi-
ble patients to participate in such program; and 
(3) how such program will work to try to iden-
tify State, local, or private funding to continue the 
program after expiration of the grant. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 
grant under this section may use the grant for any of the 
following activities, but may use not more than 20 percent 
of the grant funds for activities described in paragraphs 
(4) and (5): 
(1) To establish a program for prescribing opioid 
overdose reversal drugs, such as naloxone. 
(2) To train and provide resources for health 
care providers and pharmacists on the prescribing of 
opioid overdose reversal drugs, such as naloxone. 
(3) To establish mechanisms and processes for 
tracking patients participating in the program de-
scribed in paragraph (1) and the health outcomes of 
such patients. 
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(4) To purchase opioid overdose reversal drugs, 
such as naloxone, for distribution under the program 
described in paragraph (1). 
(5) To offset the co-pays and other cost sharing 
associated with opioid overdose reversal drugs, such 
as naloxone, to ensure that cost is not a limiting fac-
tor for eligible patients. 
(6) To conduct community outreach, in conjunc-
tion with community-based organizations, designed to 
raise awareness of prescribing practices, and the 
availability of opioid overdose reversal drugs, such as 
naloxone. 
(7) To establish protocols to connect patients who 
have experienced a drug overdose with appropriate 
treatment, including medication assisted treatment 
and appropriate counseling and behavioral therapies. 
(d) EVALUATIONS BY RECIPIENTS.—As a condition of 
receipt of a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall, 
for each year for which the grant is received, submit to the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services information on 
appropriate outcome measures specified by the Secretary to 
assess the outcomes of the program funded by the grant, in-
cluding— 
(1) the number of prescribers trained; 
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(2) the number of prescribers who have co-pre-
scribed an opioid overdose reversal drug, such as 
naloxone, to at least one patient; 
(3) the total number of prescriptions written for 
opioid overdose reversal drugs, such as naloxone; 
(4) the percentage of patients at elevated risk 
who received a prescription for an opioid overdose re-
versal drug, such as naloxone; 
(5) the number of patients reporting use of an 
opioid overdose reversal drug, such as naloxone; and 
(6) any other outcome measures that the Sec-
retary deems appropriate. 
(e) REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—For each year of the 
grant program under this section, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall submit to the appropriate com-
mittees of the House of Representatives and of the Senate 
a report aggregating the information received from the 
grant recipients for such year under subsection (d) and 
evaluating the outcomes achieved by the programs funded 
by grants made under this section. 
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