{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://coffman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2416", "ICYMI:  Coffman Amendment Included in H.R. 4242", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Mike Coffman", "C001077", "coffman.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  An amendment proposed by U.S. Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO) was unanimously approved to be included into H.R. 4242. The VA Care in the Community Act is a bill originally co-sponsored by Coffman that will consolidate, streamline and improve the Veterans Affairs (VA) community care programs.\r\nThe amendment would direct the VA Secretary to establish a process to ensure safe opioid prescribing practices by community care providers and the timely sharing of a veterans medical records.\r\nShortly after its inclusion, Coffman said:\r\nAs the VA expands their partnerships with community providers, we have found that these partnerships are challenged by the lack of sharing critical health information and conflicting opioid prescribing practices, said Rep. Coffman. The Inspector General determined that these challenges put veterans suffering from chronic pain and mental health illnesses at particular risk, and creates troubling gaps in treatment plans. My amendment tackles these challenges and provides accountability in opioid prescribing practices. I thank the Veterans Affairs committee for its unanimous support of my amendment to H.R. 4242, the VA Care in Community Act, which I originally cosponsored.\r\nAccording to a VAs Inspector General report, the opioid epidemic has impacted veterans, and overdose deaths among veterans remain elevated when compared to the civilian population.\r\nH.R. 4242 will now make its way to the House Floor for a vote. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://coffman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2416"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.821063993498683, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}