Description:
On May 9 and May 17, 2018, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce ordered 59 bills to be reported related to the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic. Because of the large number of related bills ordered reported by the Committee, CBO is publishing a single comprehensive document that includes estimates for each piece of legislation.
H.R. 5715, the Strengthening Partnerships to Prevent Opioid Abuse Act, would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a secure Internet portal to allow HHS, Medicare Advantage plans, and Medicare Part D plans to exchange information about fraud, waste, and abuse among providers and suppliers no later than two years after enactment. H.R. 5715 also would require organizations with Medicare Advantage contracts to submit information on investigations related to providers suspected of prescribing large volumes of opioids through a process established by the Secretary no later than January 2021. Based on historical spending patterns for similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5715 would cost approximately $9 million over the 2019-2023 period.
On June 6, 2018, CBO issued an estimate for seven opioid-related bills ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on May 16, 2018. In this estimate, a provision in H.R. 5715, which would mandate the creation of a new Internet portal to allow various stakeholders to exchange information, is identical to section 4 of H.R. 5773, the Preventing Addiction for Susceptible Seniors Act of 2018.
