U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Feb. 27 introduced the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 2.0 Act, S. 2456, a measure to boost funding and policy resources for fighting the nation’s opioid-addiction epidemic.
If enacted, S. 2456 would expand the original CARA law, enacted on July 22, 2016, by authorizing $1 billion dedicated to prevention, enforcement, treatment and recovery, according to a summary provided by Sen. Capito’s office. Policy reforms also would be added to CARA 2.0, such as putting a three-day limit on opioids initially prescribed for acute pain, according to the summary, and slapping larger civil and criminal penalties on opioid manufacturers that don’t report suspicious orders.
“The opioid epidemic truly is a national crisis that is affecting families and communities across the country, and in West Virginia, we’ve become far too familiar with its consequences,” Capito said. “This is an important next step in a much broader effort, and I’m confident it will bring us closer to making real progress in this fight.”
S. 2456 also incorporates the Protection from Overprescribing Act, S. 2451, which Sen. Cassidy introduced on Feb. 26 to address dangerous prescribing practices by incentivizing states to report prescription-monitoring information to both law enforcement and state prescriber licensing boards.
“We must keep up the fight against the opioid crisis in Louisiana to support healthier families and safer communities,” said Cassidy, who is a licensed medical doctor. “I’m glad the Protection from Overprescribing Act is included in this bill, so law enforcement gets the information they need to identify providers who are overprescribing and fueling this crisis.” S. 2451 has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
The CARA Act of 2016 authorized an additional $181 million for anti-opioid education, treatment and recovery programs, which were funded at $267 million for fiscal year (FY) 2017, according to the lawmakers’ offices, noting that the latest budget agreement includes $6 billion more for FY 2018 and FY 2019. CARA 2.0 would provide an additional $1 billion in funding authorization.
“Passage of CARA was a historic moment, the first time in decades that Congress passed comprehensive addiction legislation, and the first time Congress has ever supported long-term addiction recovery,” said Sen. Portman. “Now we have the opportunity to build on this effort, increasing funding levels for programs we know work and implementing additional policy reforms that will make a real difference.”
S. 2456 awaits consideration by the Senate HELP Committee. The bill has nine cosponsors with U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joining Capito and Cassidy as among the original cosponsors.