[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4429 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4429
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants
to demonstrate pharmacy-based addiction care programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2024
Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Braun, and Mr. Markey) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants
to demonstrate pharmacy-based addiction care programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Substance Use Prevention and
Pharmacy Oriented Recovery Treatment Prescription Act'' or the
``SUPPORT Rx Act''.
SEC. 2. PHARMACY-BASED ADDICTION CARE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall carry out a 3-
year demonstration program under which the Secretary shall award grants
to eligible entities to establish, maintain, or improve a pharmacy-
based addiction care program.
(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an entity shall be--
(1) a State, Tribal, or local health department;
(2) a partnership between such a health department and 1 or
more other public entities or private entities located in a
State, the laws of which allow pharmacists to prescribe, or
enter into collaborative practice agreements with physicians
authorized to prescribe, a controlled substance that is listed
on schedule III of section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances
Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)); or
(3) a specialty addiction treatment practitioner in a
primary care setting or a specialty substance use disorder
treatment facility.
(c) Applications.--An eligible entity desiring a grant under
subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an application at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may require, including--
(1) a plan to establish a collaborative practice
agreement--
(A) through which board certified addiction
medicine physicians or addiction psychiatrists shall
collaborate with pharmacists permitted to enter into
such agreements under applicable State law in order to
enable such pharmacists to provide drug therapy
management; and
(B) under which the prescriptive authority of a
pharmacist shall not exceed the authority that is
specified in the collaborative practice agreement;
(2) a description of activities proposed to be carried out
pursuant to the grant; and
(3) a plan to sustain activities described in such
application following the conclusion of the grant period.
(d) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity receiving a grant under
subsection (a) shall use the grant funds to establish,
maintain, or improve a comprehensive, pharmacy-based addiction
care program to support withdrawal, induction, ongoing care,
and rescue for individuals with opioid or other substance use
disorders, provided by and at community pharmacies, including
by--
(A) offering buprenorphine for opioid and other
substance use disorders, and managing withdrawal from
opioids and other substances when appropriate,
induction, and maintenance care;
(B) rendering same-day care services of low-barrier
treatment, with no or reduced requirements, including
no or reduced requirements for payment, insurance, age
limits (to the extent authorized under State or Federal
law), and identification; and
(C) training pharmacists on treating and managing
patients with opioid and other substance use disorders,
which training, at a minimum, shall be in accordance
with paragraph (1)(B) of the second subsection (l) of
section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
823) (as added by section 1263(a) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328; 136 Stat.
5683)).
(2) Additional uses.--In addition to uses described in
paragraph (1), an eligible entity receiving a grant under
subsection (a) shall use the grant funds--
(A) to provide compensation to staff for pharmacy
program and other program operations for which the
staff would not otherwise receive compensation;
(B) to provide payment for an individual to obtain
not more than a 30-day supply of buprenorphine
prescribed at any one time under the pharmacy-based
addiction care program supported by the grant;
(C) to provide care continuity fee payments to
providers or clinics the patients of which transfer
their maintenance care to the pharmacy-based addiction
care program supported by the grant to support good
recordkeeping, safe transfer, and transition in care;
(D) to provide telebehavioral health services;
(E) to provide construction to permit private or
semi-private spaces for counseling and administration
of medication;
(F) to provide secure technology that is in
compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, as defined
in section 1180(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1320d-9(b)(3));
(G) to establish a collaborative practice agreement
described in subsection (c)(1);
(H) to pay for the costs of training staff in
administration of opioid reversal medications approved
by the Food and Drug Administration;
(I) to pay for other necessary staff training,
including the training described in paragraph (1)(C);
and
(J) to pay for registration fees in each applicable
State in accordance with section 302(e) of the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 822(e)).
(3) Limitation.--No funds made available under a grant
under subsection (a) may be used to prescribe or dispense any
drug other than buprenorphine or an opioid overdose reversal
drug.
(e) Pharmacy-Based Addiction Care Guidance.--Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue
guidance to provide eligible entities and pharmacists with technical
assistance, recommendations, and best practices regarding treatment to
support management of withdrawal from opioids and other substances when
appropriate, induction, ongoing care, and rescue.
(f) Report to the Secretary.--Each recipient of a grant under
subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an annual evaluation of
the progress of the pharmacy-based addiction care program supported by
the grant, including information on--
(1) the number of patients receiving treatment;
(2) any changes in local rates of overdose over the course
of the grant; and
(3) any other readily available information the Secretary
determines necessary, including--
(A) cost data;
(B) patient-reported outcomes;
(C) overdose data;
(D) hospitalization data;
(E) quality and safety measures;
(F) program retention data;
(G) data on the opioid prescriptions fill rates;
(H) the demographic characteristics of patients who
were treated by the program; and
(I) any other information the Secretary determines
necessary.
(g) Report to Congress.--Not later than 120 days after completion
of the demonstration program under this section, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report that describes the results of the
demonstration program, including--
(1) the number of applications received for grants under
the demonstration program, and the number of grants awarded;
(2) a summary of the evaluations submitted under subsection
(f), including standardized data; and
(3) recommendations for broader implementation of pharmacy-
based addiction models of care.
(h) Funding.--The Secretary shall carry out the demonstration
program under this section using amounts available to the Secretary,
and not otherwise obligated, for the Harm Reduction Grant Program of
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration pursuant
to section 516(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-
22(a)) and section 2706 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (42
U.S.C. 290dd-3 note; Public Law 117-2).
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