Veterans HOPE Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5919 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5919 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a review of opioid overdose deaths among veterans, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 4, 2025 Mr. Murphy (for himself and Mr. Courtney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a review of opioid overdose deaths among veterans, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Heroin Overdose Prevention Examination Act'' or the ``Veterans HOPE Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: (1) New research shows that a dramatic rise in opioid overdose deaths among veterans in recent years has happened increasingly among veterans dying from heroin and synthetic opioids. (2) Furthermore, patients of the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs are seven times more likely to suffer from an opioid use disorder than commercially insured patients. (3) Using records of the Veterans Health Administration linked to National Death Index data, the veterans' rate of overdose deaths from all opioids increased by 65 percent from 2010 to 2016, a rate change that includes adjustments for demographic changes in the veteran population over time. (4) Furthermore, among all opioid overdose decedents, prescription opioid receipt within three months before death declined from 54 percent in 2010 to 26 percent in 2016, yet veteran overdoses resulting in death from heroin, synthetic