Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 21, 2021
Non-Opioid Directive Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a non-opioid pain management directive. This is a form that an individual may use to inform health care providers of the individual's choice to avoid opioid medications for pain management. The bill also sets out requirements for the execution, use, and revocation of these forms.
HHS must make the form available on its website, and health insurers must make it available to their plan enrollees. Insurers must also share an enrollee's choice about opioid treatment with health care providers during pre-authorization processes.
The bill allows health care providers to override a patient's form in specified circumstances. It also extends liability protections for providers who reasonably and in good faith administer or prescribe an opioid to a patient with an executed form in place.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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