PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] · D–NC
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 24, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Virtual-Based Opioid Treatment for Veterans Act would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create a pilot program helping veterans enrolled in its patient system access opioid treatment delivered entirely remotely. It would promote qualifying community care programs, build referral pathways, and study treatment barriers. These services would supplement existing VA direct care, and qualifying treatment would combine counseling and medication-assisted treatment during each visit.
This Act may be cited as the Virtual-Based Opioid Treatment for Veterans Act.
create a referral pipeline for covered veterans into these virtual-based opioid treatment programs, assisted by a national public awareness campaign around these treatment programs, as a supplement to existing Department of Veterans Affairs direct care programs;
The term covered veteran means a veteran who is enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment established and operated under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code.
(A) incorporate same-visit, same-clinician behavioral counseling and medication-assisted treatment in each visit; (B) are conducted entirely through telemedicine or telehealth;
As part of the pilot program, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a study on the societal impact of barriers to treatment for substance use disorder
The VA Secretary would have to establish and carry out the pilot within 180 days after enactment. Its covered population would be veterans enrolled in the VA annual patient enrollment system referenced in the bill.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish and carry out a pilot program on expanding access to virtual-based opioid treatment for covered veterans.
The term covered veteran means a veteran who is enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment established and operated under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code.
The VA would have to tell covered veterans and their families about remote opioid treatment options furnished through the Veterans Community Care Program.
Under the pilot program, the Secretary shall— (1) conduct outreach to covered veterans and the families of covered veterans with respect to options for virtual-based opioid treatment furnished through the Veterans Community Care Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs established and operated under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code;
The VA would have to build referral networks addressing treatment barriers and a pathway connecting covered veterans to qualifying programs. A national public awareness campaign would support those referrals, supplementing existing VA direct care.
(2) develop referral networks for virtual-based opioid treatment options for covered veterans that are designed around overcoming barriers associated with opioid treatment; (3) create a referral pipeline for covered veterans into these virtual-based opioid treatment programs, assisted by a national public awareness campaign around these treatment programs, as a supplement to existing Department of Veterans Affairs direct care programs;
The VA would have to ensure that Veterans Health Administration clinicians and peer-support specialists know about community care network remote treatment programs for patients facing barriers to VA direct care.
(4) ensure that clinicians of the Veterans Health Administration and peer-support specialists are aware of community care network-associated virtual-based opioid treatment programs for patients experiencing barriers to the access of direct care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs;
An interagency task force would coordinate the pilot across the VA, Health and Human Services, Defense, and Justice departments through the officials specified in the bill.
(5) launch an interagency task-force with covered Secretaries to ensure a coordinated, whole-of-Government approach dedicated to ensuring cross-agency integration of the pilot program.
The term covered Secretaries means— (A) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse; (B) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, acting through the Under Secretary for Health; (C) the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; and (D) the Attorney General, acting through the Director for the Health Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Qualifying treatment would have to take place entirely through telemedicine or telehealth, with behavioral counseling and medication-assisted treatment provided by the same clinician during each visit. Providers would have to be licensed, board-certified psychiatric clinicians whose practices hold Drug Enforcement Administration licenses authorizing medication-assisted treatment.
The term virtual-based opioid treatment means treatment programs under the Veterans Community Care Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs that— (A) incorporate same-visit, same-clinician behavioral counseling and medication-assisted treatment in each visit; (B) are conducted entirely through telemedicine or telehealth; (C) are from licensed, board-certified psychiatric clinicians whose practices possess Drug Enforcement Administration licenses authorizing medication-assisted treatment;
Treatment programs would also have to meet eligibility standards based on results, set by the VA Secretary in consultation with the other specified officials. Possible measures include keeping patients in treatment, compliance measured through toxicology testing, patient-reported results, and fewer emergency department visits or moves to more intensive care. The bill does not set numerical thresholds.
(D) meet outcome-based eligibility benchmarks, such as on minimum thresholds for patient retention, toxicology compliance, patient-reported outcomes, and reduction in emergency department utilization or escalation of care, as determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the covered Secretaries.
The bill defines treatment barriers by reference to access to traditional, in-person medication-assisted opioid treatment and definitions from the Centers for Disease Control or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The term barriers means barriers to the access of traditional, in-person medication-assisted opioid treatment, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The VA Secretary would have to study the societal impact of barriers to substance use disorder treatment and report findings and recommendations for incorporating remote opioid treatment models with proven success in overcoming those barriers. Recipients would include the Health and Human Services and Defense secretaries, the Attorney General, both congressional Veterans’ Affairs committees, the Senate health and education committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
As part of the pilot program, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a study on the societal impact of barriers to treatment for substance use disorder and submit to the appropriate agency heads and congressional committees a report on such study. Such report shall include— (A) a description of the findings of such study; and (B) recommendations of the Secretary with respect to incorporating virtual-based opioid treatment models with proven success in overcoming such barriers.
The term appropriate agency heads and congressional committees means— (A) the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (B) the Secretary of Defense; (C) the Attorney General of the United States; (D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; (E) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives; (F) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and (G) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
The first revised report would be due within one year after the initial report, followed by annual updates until the opioid crisis is no longer deemed a public health emergency. Updates would have to summarize the pilot’s progress in addressing the treatment barriers identified by the study.
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary submits the report under paragraph (1), and on an annual basis thereafter until the opioid crisis is no longer deemed a public health emergency, the Secretary shall update the report under paragraph (1) and submit to the appropriate agency heads and congressional committees a revised report that includes a summary of the progress of the pilot program toward resolving and overcoming the treatment barriers identified in the study under paragraph (1).
Authority to operate the pilot would ordinarily end two years after enactment. If the VA Secretary determines that it effectively improves health-related outcomes for covered veterans receiving pilot care, the Secretary could extend it for a period the Secretary considers appropriate.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the pilot program under this section shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
If the Secretary determines the pilot program is effective in improving health-related outcomes for covered veterans in receipt of care under the pilot program, the Secretary may extend such authority for such period as the Secretary determines appropriate.
The supplied action snapshot, updated September 24, 2026, records introduction and referral to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on August 3, 2026, followed by referral to the Subcommittee on Health on August 10, 2026. This snapshot does not establish the bill’s subsequent status.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-24T08:05:26Z. 2026-08-10: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. 2026-08-03: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. 2026-08-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the contents of other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; the source set does not establish formal earmark status in accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment beyond ordinary program coverage and eligibility requirements was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 24, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI