HR5919-119

What This Bill Does

The Veterans HOPE Act responds to findings that opioid overdose deaths among veterans rose sharply from 2010 to 2016, including growth in heroin, fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and multiple-opioid deaths even as recent prescription opioid receipt declined among overdose decedents. Congress states that prevention and research should extend beyond veterans actively receiving opioid prescriptions. The bill requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, within 18 months, to review deaths of all covered veterans who died from opioid overdoses during the five years before enactment. Covered veterans are veterans who received VA hospital care or medical services during the five-year period before death. The review must count overdose deaths, summarize age, sex, race, and ethnicity, list medications prescribed and found in bodies at death, flag black box warning, off-label, and psychotropic medications, summarize VA diagnoses behind prescriptions, count concurrent VA-prescribed medications, measure time from last opioid prescription to death, identify causes of death, report combat and trauma factors including military sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, and PTSD, identify VA facilities with high prescription and drug abuse treatment rates, describe VA prescribing policies and opioid tracking, collection, and disposal efforts, identify patterns, and recommend actions to reduce veteran overdose rates, especially for veterans without an opioid prescription in the three months before overdose death. Within 45 days after completing the review, VA must report to Congress, make the report public, and brief House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees.

Who Benefits and How

Veterans at risk of opioid overdose benefit if VA uses the review to improve prevention beyond active prescription monitoring. Families of veterans harmed by heroin, fentanyl, synthetic opioids, or multiple-opioid use benefit from a more complete public accounting of overdose patterns. VA clinicians and policymakers benefit from evidence on medications, diagnoses, trauma factors, facilities, and policy gaps tied to overdose deaths. Congressional Veterans' Affairs committees benefit from a public report and briefing within 45 days after the review is complete.

Who Bears the Burden and How

VA health data staff must complete a detailed five-year mortality review within 18 months. VA facilities with high prescription or drug abuse treatment rates may face scrutiny after the review identifies facility patterns. VA prescribing policy officials must document policies, opioid disposal efforts, patterns, and recommendations for further action. VA must make the report public and brief House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees.

Key Provisions

• Requires VA to complete an 18-month review of opioid overdose deaths among covered veterans during the prior five years.
• Requires analysis of demographics, prescriptions, medications found at death, diagnoses, concurrent medications, trauma factors, facilities, policies, and opioid disposal efforts.
• Requires recommendations to improve veteran safety and reduce overdose rates, including for veterans without recent opioid prescriptions.
• Requires VA to submit the review to Congress, make it public, and brief House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees within 45 days after completion.