Opioid Bill Shows Congress Can Still Work Together

In a week dominated by Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle and the partisan divisions it exposed, the Senate also showed it’s still capable of bipartisan achievements. The Senate on Wednesday passed sweeping legislation to address the opioid crisis by a 98-1 vote. The proposal, which passed the House by a margin of 393-8, is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump. Dubbed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the bill marked a rare bipartisan effort to address a national health crisis that has devastated communities all over the country. More than 200,000 people in the United States have fatally overdosed in connection to taking prescription opioids between 1999 and 2016. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who is one of the measure’s authors, called it a “glimmer of hope at the end of a dark tunnel” during a speech on the Senate floor before the vote. The bill addresses an archaic rule that prohibited Medicaid from reimbursing patients being treated for substance abuse disorders in facilities with more than 16 beds. Patients would be eligible for 30 days of treatment in residential facilities. The legislation lifts restrictions on who can prescribe medications to treat opioid addictions and allocates states more flexibility with funding to combat addiction. It also expands a program that seeks to arm first responders with the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and increases penalties for drug manufacturers who co...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news