H.R. 4841

Co-Prescribing Saves Lives Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1) establish training guidelines for federal health care facilities and federally qualified health centers; and (2) train certain health care providers at federal health care facilities on best practices for prescribing pain medications, principles of pain management, the misuse potential of controlled substances, identification of potential substance use disorders and referral to further evaluation and treatment, and disposal of controlled substances.

HHS, the VA, and DOD must establish, for certain health care facilities, guidelines for the prescription of naloxone to individuals at an elevated risk of overdose. (Naloxone is a prescription drug used to rapidly reverse an overdose of opioids, which are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as heroin and certain pain medications.)

HHS must award grants to state departments of health for the development and application of guidelines for the prescription of opioid overdose reversal drugs and to increase access to naloxone. Grants may be used to:

• establish a program for purchasing, prescribing, and distributing opioid overdose reversal drugs;
• expand innovative models of naloxone distribution;
• train and provide resources to health care providers and pharmacists on prescribing opioid overdose reversal drugs;
• offset individuals' cost-sharing for opioid overdose reversal drugs;
• conduct community outreach to raise awareness of the availability of opioid overdose reversal drugs; and
• establish protocols to connect patients who have experienced a drug overdose with treatment.