A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect data and report to Congress on the cost to the Medicaid program from hospital and emergency room visits related to marijuana use.

Legislative Summary: S. 4345

Bill Title: A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect data and report to Congress on the cost to the Medicaid program from hospital and emergency room visits related to marijuana use.
Session: 119th Congress
Jurisdiction: United States
Status: Introduced (Referred to the Committee on Finance)

Overview

The primary purpose of S. 4345 is to establish a formal mechanism for tracking and reporting the financial impact that marijuana-related healthcare utilization has on the federal Medicaid program. The bill mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gather specific data regarding hospitalizations and emergency room visits stemming from marijuana use to provide Congress with a clearer understanding of the associated public costs.

Key Provisions

The bill introduces a federal mandate for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to perform the following actions:

• Data Collection: Implement a system to identify and collect data on Medicaid expenditures specifically linked to emergency department visits and hospital admissions resulting from marijuana use.
• Reporting to Congress: Compile this data into a comprehensive report for Congress. This report is intended to quantify the fiscal burden placed on the Medicaid program due to these specific healthcare encounters.

Who is Affected?

The impact of this legislation is primarily administrative and analytical:

• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): The Secretary and relevant agencies will be responsible for the logistical task of data aggregation and reporting.
• Federal Legislators: Members of Congress will gain access to federally standardized data to inform future policy decisions regarding public health and drug regulation.
• Medicaid Program Administrators: There may be requirements for updates in how medical encounters are coded or tracked to ensure marijuana-related visits are accurately captured.

Significance and Impact

Currently, data regarding the cost of marijuana-related emergency care can be fragmented across various state-level reports and academic studies. By requiring a centralized report from the Secretary of HHS, this bill seeks to:

1. Quantify Public Expenditure: Determine exactly how many taxpayer dollars are spent on marijuana-related acute care.
2. Inform Policy: Provide an evidence-based foundation for debates regarding the legalization, regulation, or public health campaigns surrounding marijuana.

Timeline and Procedural Status

• Introduced: April 20, 2026.
• Current Status: The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance, which oversees taxation, debt, and Social Security/Medicaid programs. No vote has yet been taken, and no effective date for the reporting requirements has been finalized.