The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce completed its second mark-up of legislation focused on combating the opioid and heroin crisis. The Committee passed 32 bills, two of which were recently introduced by Congresswoman Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05).
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H.R. 5329, the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2018, a bipartisan bill which was introduced in March, reauthorizes funding for the poison control center’s toll-free number. It also clarifies that poison control centers can be called upon to assist with public health emergencies, responses and preparedness; requests that enhanced communications capabilities like texting be established; requests the FCC work with HHS to ensure calls to the 1-800 number are properly routed; and directs HHS to implement call routing based on the caller’s actual location to ensure timely responses.
H.R. 5716, the Commit to Opioid Medical Prescriber Accountability and Safety for Seniors (COMPASS) Act, requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to, in consultation with stakeholders, establish a threshold, based on specialty and geographic area, for which a prescriber would be considered an outlier opioid prescriber. CMS would then notify prescribers identified as outliers of their status. This process would act as a flag to prescribers to encourage them to evaluate their prescribing practices and to address any erroneous practices.