PRIA Logo™
119-s-3758119th CongressWALLET

End Veterans Overdose Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Senator Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]

In Committee

Summary

Free, no-prescription access to opioid overdose rescue medications at VA pharmacies would let covered veterans and eligible caregivers obtain naloxone and similar drugs at no charge. The VA would also have to provide drug-use information to recipients.

Show full summary
  • Caregivers and family supports: Only caregivers who participate in the VA’s family caregiver programs would be eligible to receive medications under this authority.
  • Program expansion checks: The VA would study whether to expand distribution to immediate family members and to non-VA health providers that furnish care to veterans under 38 U.S.C. §1703.
  • Privacy limits: Personally identifiable information collected under the program could only be used for prescribing or improving care and could not be used to block employment, establish a drug-use history, or prove unlawful use or addiction.
  • Reporting and oversight: The VA must report to Congress within two years of implementation and annually after that on counts of recipients, trends, feasibility of expansion, and recommendations.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Free naloxone for veterans and caregivers

You would be able to get opioid overdose rescue medicines, like naloxone, at VA pharmacies for free and without a prescription. Any covered veteran or a caregiver of a covered veteran would be eligible. The VA would provide drug use instructions with each medicine. The VA could only collect personal information needed to prescribe the medicine and could only use it to give, evaluate, and improve health care. The bill would ban using that personal information to stop someone from getting a job, to show a history of drug use, or to claim unlawful drug use or addiction. Within two years after VA first makes the medicines available, VA would report to Congress and then report every year on recipient counts, use trends, and feasibility of expanding access.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]

NH • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]

    ID • R

    Sponsored 2/2/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation