HANDS Act
Sponsored By: Representative Pettersen
Introduced
Summary
Free preventive opioid overdose reversal drugs at discharge and in emergency care. This bill would require Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE to cover defined preventive opioid overdose reversal drugs with no cost sharing and set rules for when providers may furnish them.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Medicaid would cover overdose reversal drugs
If enacted, Medicaid would have to cover preventive opioid overdose reversal drugs starting January 1, 2026. States could not charge copays, coinsurance, or similar fees for these drugs. Benchmark Medicaid plans would also have to include them with no cost-sharing. The drugs would be treated as prescribed drugs for Medicaid rebate rules.
Medicare would cover overdose reversal drugs
If enacted, starting January 1, 2026, Medicare would cover qualifying preventive opioid overdose reversal drugs given at discharge to at‑risk patients. Medicare would pay 100% of the lesser of the billed charge or the amount under section 1842(o). You would not owe a deductible or coinsurance for these drugs. Medicare Advantage plans would follow the same no‑cost rule.
TRICARE would drop copays for reversal drugs
If enacted, TRICARE would stop charging copays or coinsurance for preventive opioid overdose reversal drugs beginning January 1, 2026. This would apply to qualifying drugs defined in Medicare law.
What would count as a covered reversal drug
If enacted, starting January 1, 2026, a covered “preventive opioid overdose reversal drug” would mean an intranasal or intramuscular drug given by a doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other qualified staff. It would need to be given to a hospital inpatient or to a patient leaving an emergency department or an ambulatory surgery center. A clinician would have to find the person is at risk, and the drug would be given at discharge with instructions. The bill says providers would not be required to give the drug in any case. This definition would decide what counts for the no‑cost rules in Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Pettersen
CO • D
Cosponsors
Kiggans (VA)
VA • R
Sponsored 9/3/2025
Budzinski
IL • D
Sponsored 9/23/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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