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House Passes Bill to Increase Opioid Addiction Treatment Access

On June 22, 2018, the House of Representatives passed “one of the most significant congressional efforts against a drug crisis in our nation’s history,” according to Representative Greg Walden (R-Oregon). The legislation makes it easier for providers to treat patients suffering from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). The bill passed with strong bipartisan support, with a vote of 396 to 14.  The final bill, titled the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, combined 58 smaller bills to create one comprehensive package that includes improvements to Medicaid, Medicare, and other various ways to address the opioid crisis.

The bill expands the use of telehealth services for addiction treatment and increases the accessibility to providers offering medication-assisted treatment.  In addition, the Institutes for Mental Disease exclusion, a law which blocked Medicaid from funding inpatient stays in mental/behavioral health facilities, was partially repealed under the bill, so that now state Medicaid programs may cover up to 30 days of inpatient care for eligible individuals with OUD.  Also, privacy protections for addicts that forbade any physician or other medical provider from sharing a patient’s medical history with another practitioner were lessened. Thus, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must establish hospital protocol that makes doctors aware of a patient’s addiction history in order to prevent accidental opioid prescription to patients suffering from OUD.

Aside from those key provisions, the bill also addresses other solutions to the opioid crisis. It is expanding Medicare coverage for OUD by adding methadone clinics to the program, expanding access to Medicaid for former foster youth and those transitioning out of incarceration, and increasing money for states to fund more Medicaid providers who treat OUD. Furthermore, the bill will increase the availability of naloxone (a rescue shot for opioid overdoses), ramp up the fight against fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, and order the Food and Drug Administration to explore non-addictive pain treatments.

Overall, the goal of this bill was to utilize technology to meet healthcare needs by integrating telemedicine into opioid addiction treatment, and to encourage conversations about opioid dependence by increasing Medicare and Medicaid coverage. The legislation will now head to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass, and the President should have the legislation by the end of the year.

Wachler & Associates will continue to stay up to date with the SUPPORT for Patients and Community Act and other current healthcare topics.  If you or your healthcare entity has any questions pertaining to healthcare compliance, please contact an experienced healthcare attorney at (248) 544-0888, or via email at wapc@wachler.com. You may also subscribe to our health law blog by adding your email at the top right of this page.

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