Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2016
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill permits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a grant program to support prescribing opioid overdose reversal drugs, such as naloxone, for patients at an elevated risk of overdose, including patients prescribed an opioid. (Opioids are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as heroin and certain pain medications.)
Grant recipients may use the funds to purchase opioid overdose reversal drugs, establish a program for prescribing such drugs, train health care providers and pharmacists, track patients and outcomes, offset patient cost sharing, conduct community outreach, and connect patients to treatment.
(Sec. 3) HHS may provide information to prescribers in federally qualified health centers and Indian Health Service facilities on best practices for prescribing opioid overdose reversal drugs for patients at an elevated risk of overdose.
(Sec. 4) This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reduce, as an offset, the authorization of appropriations for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facilities for FY2018.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on May 11, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 12, 2016: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
John Sarbanes (D-MD) introduced it on October 1, 2015, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 1, 2015, 3997 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3773 days ago, on May 12, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers