On May 9 and May 17, 2018, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce ordered 59 bills to be reported related to the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic. Because of the large number of related bills ordered reported by the Committee, CBO is publishing a single comprehensive document that includes estimates for each piece of legislation.
H.R. 5353, the Eliminating Opioid Related Infectious Diseases Act of 2018, would amend the Public Health Service Act by broadening the focus of surveillance and education programs from preventing and treating hepatitis C virus to preventing and treating infections associated with injection drug use. It would authorize $40 million per year over the 2019-2023 period for that purpose. Based on historical spending patterns for similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5353 would cost $166 million over the 2019-2023 period; the remaining amounts would be spent in years after 2023.