[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1725 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1725

 To amend and reauthorize the controlled substance monitoring program 
  under section 399O of the Public Health Service Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2015

Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Bucshon, and Mr. Pallone) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend and reauthorize the controlled substance monitoring program 
  under section 399O of the Public Health Service Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``National All Schedules Prescription 
Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO PURPOSE.

    Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the National All Schedules 
Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-60) is 
amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) foster the establishment of State-administered 
        controlled substance monitoring systems in order to ensure 
        that--
                    ``(A) health care providers have access to the 
                accurate, timely prescription history information that 
                they may use as a tool for the early identification of 
                patients at risk for addiction in order to initiate 
                appropriate medical interventions and avert the tragic 
                personal, family, and community consequences of 
                untreated addiction; and
                    ``(B) appropriate law enforcement, regulatory, and 
                State professional licensing authorities have access to 
                prescription history information for the purposes of 
                investigating drug diversion and prescribing and 
                dispensing practices of errant prescribers or 
                pharmacists; and''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE MONITORING PROGRAM.

    Section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g-3) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``or'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) to maintain and operate an existing State-
                controlled substance monitoring program.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``by the 
                Secretary'' after ``Grants awarded'';
            (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Minimum Requirements.--The Secretary shall maintain and, as 
appropriate, supplement or revise (after publishing proposed additions 
and revisions in the Federal Register and receiving public comments 
thereon) minimum requirements for criteria to be used by States for 
purposes of clauses (ii), (v), (vi), and (vii) of subsection 
(c)(1)(A).'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
                        striking ``(a)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                        ``(a)(1)(B) or (a)(1)(C)'';
                            (ii) in clause (i), by striking ``program 
                        to be improved'' and inserting ``program to be 
                        improved or maintained'';
                            (iii) by redesignating clauses (iii) and 
                        (iv) as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively;
                            (iv) by inserting after clause (ii) the 
                        following:
                            ``(iii) a plan to apply the latest advances 
                        in health information technology in order to 
                        incorporate prescription drug monitoring 
                        program data directly into the workflow of 
                        prescribers and dispensers to ensure timely 
                        access to patients' controlled prescription 
                        drug history;'';
                            (v) in clause (iv), as redesignated, by 
                        inserting before the semicolon at the end ``and 
                        at least one health information technology 
                        system such as an electronic health records 
                        system, a health information exchange, or an e-
                        prescribing system''; and
                            (vi) in clause (v), as redesignated, by 
                        striking ``public health'' and inserting 
                        ``public health or public safety'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) by striking ``If a State that submits'' 
                        and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--If a State that submits'';
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting ``and include timelines for full 
                        implementation of such interoperability. The 
                        State shall also describe the manner in which 
                        it will achieve interoperability between its 
                        monitoring program and health information 
                        technology systems, as allowable under State 
                        law, and include timelines for implementation 
                        of such interoperability.''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Monitoring of efforts.--The Secretary shall 
                monitor State efforts to achieve interoperability, as 
                described in subparagraph (A).'';
                    (C) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by striking ``implement or improve'' 
                        and inserting ``establish, improve, or 
                        maintain''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The Secretary shall redistribute any funds 
                        that are so returned among the remaining 
                        grantees under this section in accordance with 
                        the formula described in subsection 
                        (a)(2)(B).'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``In implementing or 
                        improving'' and all that follows through 
                        ``(a)(1)(B)'' and inserting ``In establishing, 
                        improving, or maintaining a controlled 
                        substance monitoring program under this 
                        section, a State shall comply, or with respect 
                        to a State that applies for a grant under 
                        subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1)''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by striking ``public health'' and 
                        inserting ``public health or public safety''; 
                        and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) The State shall report to the Secretary on--
                    ``(A) as appropriate, interoperability with the 
                controlled substance monitoring programs of Federal 
                departments and agencies;
                    ``(B) as appropriate, interoperability with health 
                information technology systems such as electronic 
                health records systems, health information exchanges, 
                and e-prescribing systems; and
                    ``(C) whether or not the State provides automatic, 
                real-time or daily information about a patient when a 
                practitioner (or the designee of a practitioner, where 
                permitted) requests information about such patient.'';
            (5) in subsections (e), (f)(1), and (g), by striking 
        ``implementing or improving'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``establishing, improving, or maintaining'';
            (6) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``misuse of a schedule II, III, or IV 
                        substance'' and inserting ``misuse of a 
                        controlled substance included in schedule II, 
                        III, or IV of section 202(c) of the Controlled 
                        Substance Act''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``a 
                        State substance abuse agency,'' after ``a State 
                        health department,''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Evaluation and reporting.--Subject to subsection (g), 
        a State receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall provide 
        the Secretary with aggregate data and other information 
        determined by the Secretary to be necessary to enable the 
        Secretary--
                    ``(A) to evaluate the success of the State's 
                program in achieving its purposes; or
                    ``(B) to prepare and submit the report to Congress 
                required by subsection (l)(2).
            ``(4) Research by other entities.--A department, program, 
        or administration receiving nonidentifiable information under 
        paragraph (1)(D) may make such information available to other 
        entities for research purposes.'';
            (7) by redesignating subsections (h) through (n) as 
        subsections (j) through (p), respectively;
            (8) in subsections (c)(1)(A)(iv) and (d)(4), by striking 
        ``subsection (h)'' each place it appears and inserting 
        ``subsection (j)'';
            (9) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
    ``(h) Education and Access to the Monitoring System.--A State 
receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall take steps to--
            ``(1) facilitate prescriber and dispenser use of the 
        State's controlled substance monitoring system;
            ``(2) educate prescribers and dispensers on the benefits of 
        the system both to them and society; and
            ``(3) facilitate linkage to the State substance abuse 
        agency and substance abuse disorder services.
    ``(i) Consultation With Attorney General.--In carrying out this 
section, the Secretary shall consult with the Attorney General of the 
United States and other relevant Federal officials to--
            ``(1) ensure maximum coordination of controlled substance 
        monitoring programs and related activities; and
            ``(2) minimize duplicative efforts and funding.'';
            (10) in subsection (l)(2)(A), as redesignated by paragraph 
        (7)--
                    (A) in clause (ii), by inserting ``; established or 
                strengthened initiatives to ensure linkages to 
                substance use disorder services;'' before ``or affected 
                patient access''; and
                    (B) in clause (iii), by inserting ``and between 
                controlled substance monitoring programs and health 
                information technology systems,'' before ``, including 
                an assessment'';
            (11) by striking subsection (m) (relating to preference), 
        as redesignated by paragraph (7);
            (12) by redesignating subsections (m) through (o), as 
        redesignated by paragraph (7), as subsections (l) through (o), 
        respectively;
            (13) in subsection (m)(1), as redesignated by paragraph 
        (12), by striking ``establishment, implementation, or 
        improvement'' and inserting ``establishment, improvement, or 
        maintenance'';
            (14) in subsection (n)--
                    (A) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by striking ``means the ability'' and 
                        inserting the following: ``means--
                    ``(A) the ability'';
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) sharing of State controlled substance 
                monitoring program information with a health 
                information technology system such as an electronic 
                health records system, a health information exchange, 
                or an e-prescribing system.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ``pharmacy'' and 
                inserting ``pharmacist''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and the 
                District of Columbia'' and inserting ``, the District 
                of Columbia, and any commonwealth or territory of the 
                United States''; and
            (15) by amending subsection (o), as redesignated by 
        paragraph (12), to read as follows:
    ``(o) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years from 2016 through 2020.''.
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