SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act

Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act or the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act

TITLE I--MEDICAID PROVISIONS TO ADDRESS THE OPIOID CRISIS

(Sec. 1001) The bill prohibits termination of Medicaid eligibility for juveniles who are inmates of public institutions.

(Sec. 1003) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must establish a demonstration project to increase provider treatment capacity for substance-use disorders.

(Sec. 1004) State Medicaid programs must establish drug-review and utilization requirements, including safety measures for subsequent prescriptions of opioids.

(Sec. 1006) The bill extends the enhanced federal matching rate for expenditures regarding substance-use disorder health-home services under Medicaid.

The bill also temporarily requires coverage of medication-assisted treatment under Medicaid.

(Sec. 1007) The bill allows state Medicaid programs to cover residential pediatric recovery center services for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

(Sec. 1012) States may also receive federal payment under Medicaid for outside services that are provided to pregnant and postpartum women who are substance-use disorder patients at institutions for mental diseases (IMDs).

(Sec. 1016) State Medicaid agencies, to the extent permitted under state law, may also access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), facilitate access to PDMPs for Medicaid providers and managed care entities, and share accessed information with such providers and entities.

TITLE II--MEDICARE PROVISIONS TO ADDRESS THE OPIOID CRISIS

(Sec. 2001) The bill exempts substance-use disorder telehealth services from specified requirements, such as geographic restrictions, under Medicare.

(Sec. 2002) The initial examination for new enrollees and annual wellness visits under Medicare must include a substance-use disorder screening and a review of any current opioid prescriptions.

(Sec. 2003) In general, prescriptions for controlled substances that are covered drugs under Medicare must be transmitted through electronic prescription programs.

(Sec. 2004) Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors must establish drug-management programs for at-risk beneficiaries.

(Sec. 2005) The bill also requires coverage for services provided by certified opioid-treatment programs under Medicare.

(Sec. 2006) The CMS must notify Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors about individuals who have a history of opioid-related overdoses, so that such individuals are included in drug-management programs for at-risk beneficiaries.

The summary continues for 192 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on October 24, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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.