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GAO-18-685R 1 (2018-09-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacpsn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 September 26, 2018 Congressional Requesters Opioid Crisis: Status of Public Health Emergency Authorities Opioid misuse and related deaths are a serious, growing public health problem in the United States. According to the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 42,000 people died from opioid-involved overdoses in 2016. The federal government has launched a number of initiatives to combat the opioid crisis, and HHS issued a five-point Opioid Strategy in April 2017 to guide the department's efforts.' We and others have reported on ongoing federal actions to address opioid issues.2 On October 26, 2017, the Acting Secretary of HHS declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act and the declaration was renewed in January, April, and July 2018. A public health emergency triggers the availability of certain authorities under federal law that enable federal agencies to take actions such as accessing the Public Health Emergency Fund, temporarily reassigning certain state and local personnel, and waiving certain administrative requirements. These authorities may allow the federal government to increase support to and reduce administrative burdens on state and local governments and federal grantees affected by or responding to the public health emergency. They may also supplement other federal efforts that are ongoing to address the emergency. While the Secretary of HHS may declare a public health emergency, the use of some authorities requires coordination with other agencies, including the Department of Justice (Justice) and the Department of Labor (Labor). The October 2017 declaration was the first time that a public health emergency declaration was made for the opioid crisis. Public health emergencies have 'The Opioid Strategy's five priority areas are: 1) better access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services; 2) better data on the epidemic; 3) better pain management; 4) better targeting of overdose-reversing drugs; and 5) better research on pain and addiction. 2See, for example, GAO, Prescription Opioids: Medicare Needs Better Information to Reduce the Risk of Harm to Beneficiaries, GAO-18-585T (Washington D.C.: May 29, 2018); Illicit Opioids: While Greater Attention Given to Combating Synthetic Opioids, Agencies Need to Better Assess their Efforts, GAO-1 8-205 (Washington, D.C.: March 29, 2018); Opioid Use Disorders: HHS Needs Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Efforts to Expand Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment, GAO-1 8-44 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 31, 2017); Newborn Health: Federal Action Needed to Address Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, GAO-1 8-32 (Washington D.C.: Oct. 4, 2017); and Prescription Opioids: Medicare Needs to Expand Oversight Efforts to Reduce the Risk of Harm, GAO-1 8-15, (Washington D.C.: Oct. 6, 2017). 3A declaration is in effect until the Secretary declares the emergency no longer exists, or 90 days after the declaration, whichever occurs first. A declaration that expires may be renewed by the Secretary. The then-Acting Secretary made the determination for the October 2017 public health emergency declaration for the opioid crisis and the January 2018 renewal of this declaration. The current Secretary made the determination for the April and July 2018 renewals of the declaration. GAO-1 8-685R Public Health Emergency for Opioid Crisis Page 1

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