{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-va-prescription-drug-monitoring-bill-heads-to-president-s-desk", "Kuster VA Prescription Drug Monitoring Bill Heads to Presidents Desk", "2017-11-16", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, DC) \u2013 Last night, the Senate passed the VA Prescription Data Accountability Act, legislation authored by Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), a member of the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs and the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force. The legislation would clarify current law to stipulate that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is required to disclose information to state controlled substance monitoring programs for anyone \u2013 veteran or non-veteran \u2013 who is prescribed these medications through VA. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Mike Rounds (R-SD). The legislation now heads to the President\u2019s desk for his signature.\n\u201cThe Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the largest prescribers of narcotics in the country and any effective national prescription drug monitoring program must include the VA,\u201d said Congresswoman Kuster. \u201cThe VA is in a position to be a leader in improving opioid prescribing and pain management practices, and a robust prescription drug monitoring program is a critical component of that effort. I\u2019m encouraged that we were able to come together across the aisle to make this commonsense improvement to the VA\u2019s prescription drug monitoring program.\u201d\nUnder current law, when VHA providers prescribe a controlled substance, VHA is required to disclose that information to the appropriate state controlled substance monitoring program. Due to VistA\u2019s inability to differentiate between dependents and other non-veterans, VHA is currently only transmitting data for veteran patients, leaving out approximately 10% of VHA\u2019s patient population who are dependents or other non-veterans who meet certain qualifications to receive prescriptions from VHA.\n###", 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://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-va-prescription-drug-monitoring-bill-heads-to-president-s-desk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1667688377201557, "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"}