The Opioid Commission: Ringing The Right Alarm To Respond To The Overdose Epidemic

The 20-year opioid overdose epidemic confronting our nation has continued unabated largely because of an uncoordinated response that has over emphasized supply-side interventions (i.e. prescriber guidelines, Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, law enforcement) rather than dramatically increasing access to evidence-based treatment as occurred in other Western nations with great success. The White House’s Opioid Commission (chaired by Governor Chris Christie, R-NJ) in declaring a national emergency and breaking with this failed tradition offers much hope for stemming the overdose death rate. The Opioid Commission’s interim report (released Monday July 31) emphasizes increasing access to evidence-based care for each of the 2.4 million Americans estimated to be affected with opioid use disorder. The Commission is seeking to expand access, such as through Medicaid waivers, for evidence-based treatment programs offering three Food and Drug Administration-approved, lifesaving medications to manage opioid use disorder: methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone monthly injections. Further, the Commission has requested that federal efforts intensify enforcement efforts targeting insurance plan violations obstructing patient access to treatment (despite mental health parity laws having been in existence for almost a decade). Evidence-Based Treatment Needs to Be Ubiquitous Unfortunately, evidence-based treatment has remained out of reach for the great majority of a...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Public Health Quality Opioid Addiction opioid epidemic Source Type: blogs