Description:
S. 2680 would authorize appropriations totaling an estimated $7.9 billion, for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families, and other agencies within HHS for programs to address the opioid epidemic in the United States. The bill also would make related changes to those agencies’ programs. In addition, S. 2680 contains provisions that would: Authorize appropriations totaling $500 million over the 2019-2023 period for the Department of Labor to establish a grant program to alleviate the economic and workforce effects of opioid abuse, Authorize appropriations totaling $1.5 billion over the 2019-2021 period for grants to states and Indian tribes to respond to the opioid abuse crisis, and Direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to modify and strengthen its oversight of opioids and other controlled substances and medications that are used to manage pain. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $7.1 billion over the 2019-2023 period, assuming the appropriation of authorized and necessary amounts. Enacting S. 2680 would not affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that it would affect revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO projects that any effect on revenues over the 2019-2028 period would total less than $500,000. S. 2680 ould not increase net direct spending and not significantly increase on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. Title III of S. 2680 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by permitting the Secretary of HHS to require drug developers and manufacturers to implement new drug-packaging and disposal systems. Because the effect of the new regulations on the regulated entities is uncertain, CBO cannot determine whether the aggregate cost of those requirements would exceed the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($160 million in 2018, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill would not impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
