House Passes Sweeping Bipartisan Bill to Combat Addiction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the past two weeks the House of Representatives has passed over 50 bipartisan bills to address all aspects of the opioid crisis. These bills addressed specific ways to improve public policy to provide better treatment and recovery, step up drug abuse prevention efforts, protect communities by giving law enforcement the tools they need, and target the scourge of synthetic opioids like fentanyl that are driving this crisis.

This package included Congressman MacArthur’s bipartisan bills, the SENIOR Communities Protection Act and the STOP Fentanyl Deaths Act, as well as five bills that were top Task Force priorities, and 30 that were authored by a member of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force.

Co-chair of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force, Rep. Tom MacArthur, released the following statement on passage of H.R. 6 the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act:

“As co-chair of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force, I have been focused on working with my colleagues to improve prevention, treatment, and enforcement efforts. I am encouraged that so many of our task force members had legislation included in the final package that passed the House. It is amazing how much we can accomplish when we put politics aside and work together on the issues facing our nation. I am hopeful that the Senate will act on this legislation, which will save lives. The inclusion of the SENIOR Communities Protection Act will allow Medicare Part D the ability to suspend payments to a pharmacy that is under investigation for fraud, protects Medicare dollars for the seniors who rely on them, and will help stop the dumping of drugs into our communities.  And the inclusion of the STOP Fentanyl Deaths Act will help local health professionals and law enforcement detect fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.”