State lawmakers yesterday passed a package of bills aimed at combatting heroin and prescription opioid abuse in New York State by better monitoring prescription drugs, increasing access to treatment, and breaking the cycle of heroin and opioid addiction, according to the governor and legislative leaders.
The three bills passed yesterday by the State Senate and scheduled for a vote today in the Assembly limit the over-prescription of opioids and remove barriers to access for inpatient treatment and medication. The legislation aims to address issues and concerns raised by individuals in recovery, families, and treatment providers across the state, according to a press release issued by the governor’s office Tuesday announcing an agreement between the two chambers of the State Legislature.
Insurance barriers to treatment removed
The legislation ends prior insurance authorization to allow for immediate access to inpatient treatment as long as such treatment is needed. The legislation requires insurers to cover necessary inpatient services for the treatment of substance use disorders for as long as an individual needs them. It also allows utilization review by insurers only after the first 14 days of treatment, ensuring that every patient receives at least two weeks of uninterrupted, covered care before the insurance company becomes involved.
It ends prior insurance authorization for emergency supplies of drug treatment medications.
It requires all insurance companies use objective state-approved criteria to determine the level of care for individuals suffering from substance abuse.
It mandates insurance coverage for the opioid overdose-reversal medication Naloxone. Insurance companies will be required to cover the costs of naloxone when prescribed to a person who is addicted to opioids and to his/her family member/s on the same insurance plan.
Treatment enhancements
The legislation increases evaluation for individuals incapacitated by drugs from 48 to 72 hours. It allows families to seek 72 hours of emergency treatment, an increase from the current 48 hours, for their loved one to stabilize and connect them to longer-term treatment options, while also balancing individual rights of the incapacitated individuals.
It requires hospitals to provide follow-up treatment service options to individuals upon hospital discharge. This legislation requires hospital medical staff to provide discharge-planning services to connect patients who have or are at-risk for substance use disorder with nearby treatment options to provide continuous medical care.
It allow more trained professionals to administer life-saving overdose-reversal medications without risk to their professional licenses.
It expands wraparound services to support long-term recovery. The legislation extends the wraparound program launched in 2014 to provide services to individuals completing treatment including education and employment resources, legal services, social services, transportation assistance, childcare services and peer support groups.
Prevention
The legislation reduces prescription limits for opioids from 30 days to seven days. There is a well-established link between the rise in opioid prescriptions and the current heroin crisis, the governor’s office said. To reduce unnecessary access to opioids, the legislation lowers the limit for opioid prescriptions for acute pain from 30 days to no more than a seven-day supply, with exceptions for chronic pain and other conditions.
It require ongoing education on addiction and pain management for all physicians and prescribers, mandating that these health care professionals complete three hours of education every three years on addiction, pain management, and palliative care.
It mandates pharmacists to provide easy-to-understand information on risks associated with drug addiction and abuse to consumers, including information about the risk of addiction and local treatment services.
It requires statewide data collection on overdoses and prescriptions to assist the state in providing additional protections to combat this epidemic. The state health commissioner will be required to report county-level data on opioid overdoses and usage of overdose-reversal medication on a quarterly basis.
The governor’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force issued its report a week ago, calling heroin and opioid addiction “a major public health crisis in New York State.” Many of the recommendations in the task force’s June 9 report concerning for prevention, treatment and recovery are part of the legislative package passed in Albany yesterday.
The 2016-2017 budget invests nearly $200 million through the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic — an 82 percent increase in state spending since 2011. This investment includes $66 million for residential treatment beds, including counseling and support services for roughly 8,000 individuals; $38 million to fund medication-assisted treatment programs that serve approximately 12,000 clients in residential or outpatient settings; $25 million in funding for state-operated Addiction Treatment Centers; $24 million for outpatient services that provide group and individual counseling; and $8 million for crisis/detox programs to manage and treat withdrawal from heroin and opioids.
The agreement announced Tuesday also allocates funding to add 270 treatment beds and 2,335 opioid treatment program slots across the state to help New Yorkers suffering from substance use disorder and to expand vital treatment and recovery resources.
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