Addiction Prevention and Responsible Opioid Practices Act

Bill: 116-s-4242
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2020-07-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Alternative treatments
Business ethics
Business records
Congressional oversight
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug therapy
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Hospital care
Indian social and development programs
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Licensing and registrations
Marketing and advertising
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical ethics
Medicare
Mental health
Military medicine
Minority health
Prescription drugs
Sales and excise taxes
State and local government operations
User charges and fees
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2020-07-21
text: 

Addiction Prevention and Responsible Opioid Practices Act

 
This bill addresses substance use and mental health related to opiods, including by imposing an excise tax on opioids; modifying controlled substances regulations, prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), and health insurance coverage; and requiring other activities.
 
Specifically, the bill (1) establishes federal licensure requirements for pharmaceutical representatives who market opioids, (2) requires certain training and PDMP participation as conditions for controlled substance registration, and (3) withdraws regulatory approval for opioids with ultra-high doses.
 
In addition, as a condition for receiving certain grants, recipients must, for example, mandate the use of PDMPs in specified ways and increase data-sharing. Additionally, to meet certain certification standards, health information technology must be interoperable with PDMPs.
 
Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must reimburse mental health services provided through telehealth under Medicare and develop a web-based tool to compare opioid prescribing in state Medicaid programs. The bill also creates grants to support compliance with requirements to provide parity in insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder services. The Government Accountability Office must study health care coverage and reimbursements for substance use disorder treatments.
 
Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services and the CMS must develop quality measures and guidelines for treatment of non-fatal overdoses, and the Department of Justice must operate a drug take-back program. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and medical and dental schools must also report on Medicare coverage of non-opioid treatment for back pain and educational courses on pain management and opioid prescribing practices, respectively.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-07-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S4351-4354)
action_date: 2020-07-21
text: Introduced in Senate