CARA 2.0 Introduced by Bipartisan Group of Senators

A bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation framed as a follow-up bill to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. Dubbed CARA 2.0, the bill includes a combination of policy changes and increased funding authorizations that seek to restrict access to opioid-based painkillers and boost access to addiction treatment, including establishing a three-day initial prescribing limit on opioids for acute pain and aiming to increase the availability of treatment. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). CARA 2.0 is the latest in a series of proposals that have come out of Congress to address the nation’s opioid epidemic. Last month, Congress agreed to allocate $6 billion over two years to combat the epidemic in a two-year budget proposal. Given that the bill would allocate new funding and Congress is currently working on a large budget measure, it’s possible that parts of the bill could be rolled into the larger budget package. CARA 2.0 builds upon the original CARA by increasing the funding authorization levels to better coincide with the recent budget agreement. Among the key policy changes included in the bill, the measure would: (1) establish a three-day initial prescribing limit on opioids for acute pain; (2) permanently allow physician assistants and nurs...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs