As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on March 18, 2026
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars | 2026 | 2026-2031 | 2026-2036 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct Spending (Outlays) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Revenues | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Spending Subject to Appropriation (Outlays) | * | * | not estimated | ||||||||
Increases net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? | Yes | ||||||||
Mandate Effects | |||||||||||
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Contains intergovernmental mandate? | No | ||||||||
Contains private-sector mandate? | No | ||||||||||
* = between zero and $500,000. | |||||||||||
On This Page
S. 3758 would temporarily require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make opioid overdose medications available at no charge to veterans. The bill also would require VA to provide those veterans with information about addiction treatment, suicide prevention, and other related services. Those requirements would expire after one year. The bill also would require VA to submit a report to the Congress evaluating the implementation of those requirements and recommending whether to continue them beyond that year.
Using information from VA about the Department’s current opioid overdose prevention efforts and the costs of similar activities, CBO expects that VA would distribute those medications using existing pharmacy and administrative resources. Because VA already distributes opioid overdose medications through the department’s pharmacies, health care providers, and mobile medical units, CBO expects that the number of doses furnished would increase by a small amount. Additionally, many veterans can receive those medications without charge if they are at high risk for overdose or if they have significant service-connected disabilities. Thus, any reduction in copayments would be small.
In total, satisfying the bill's medication distribution and reporting requirements would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period, CBO estimates. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Noah Callahan. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office