House Passes Opioid Bill

Surprise, the House actually passed a bipartisan healthcare bill on June 22 that had support from almost all members of both parties. H.R. 6, Support for Patients and Communities Act, is a comprehensive opioid bill that combines more than 58 individual bills intended to address the national opioid epidemic. The bipartisan bill passed 396-14 with only one Democrat voting against it. The impetus was political pressure in an election year to address a problem that results in the death of 115 Americans each day. A recent CBS poll showed 71 percent of all Americans and 78 percent of Republicans support a government response to the crisis.

The bill also passed because it avoided controversy by not including large amounts of new funding. Members from both parties want to show progress on an issue that affects virtually every state before the November elections. Earlier this year, Congress approved $4 billion in new funding, which advocates argue is a drop in the bucket given the scope of the crisis. The House bill does not include any significant new funding, which is a disappointment to Democrats and advocates, however, they supported the bill to show some accomplishment in an election year on an issue important to voters. They are also hopeful there will be other opportunities for additional funding, e.g., in the Senate bill or through the appropriations process. Just before passage, the House bill included a provision to delay Medicare eligibility for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients for three months, saving the government $290 million over a decade. The Medicare savings will result in shifting costs to insurers and health plans. The impact on Medicare Advantage (MA) plans should be small since new ESRD beneficiaries are not eligible to enroll in an MA plan except for a small number of members who are already enrolled and age into Medicare.

So what does the bill do? It expands access to treatment, e.g., by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to administer drugs that will avert death from an overdose, it encourages the development of non-opioid treatments following surgery and for pain relief, and it includes steps to stem the flow of illicit drugs through the mail from other countries. There are a number of Medicare and Medicaid provisions on substance use disorders (SUD) in HR 6.

Medicaid

• Conduct a demonstration project to increase provider capacity for substance use treatment and recovery services
• Mandate a beneficiary assignment program that identifies at-risk beneficiaries and assigns them to a pharmaceutical home program
• Require state Medicaid programs to have safety edits in place for opioid refills, monitor concurrent drug prescribing, and monitor antipsychotic prescribing for children
• Continue Medicaid coverage for incarcerated juveniles
• Continue Medicaid coverage for youth in foster care until the age of 26 if they move out of state
• Require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue guidance on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) treatment options and require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on coverage gaps for pregnant women with SUD
• Provide additional incentives for Medicaid health homes for patients with SUD

Medicare

• Require Part D plans to establish drug management programs for at-risk beneficiaries
• Require e-prescribing for coverage of prescription drugs that are controlled substances under the Medicare Part D program
• Create a pass-through payment extension to encourage the development of clinically superior non-opioid drugs
• Add a review of current opioid prescriptions and, as appropriate, a screening for opioid use disorder (OUD) as part of the Welcome to Medicare initial examination
• Incentivize post-surgical injections as a pain treatment alternative to opioids by reversing a reimbursement cut for these treatments in the Ambulatory Service Center setting
• Provide access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
• Evaluate the utilization of telehealth services in treating SUD

On June 20, the House passed a controversial separate bill that would allow Medicaid payment for 30 days during a year for a five-year period for substance abuse treatment at inpatient hospitals with more than 16 beds. Medicaid payment for inpatient substance abuse treatment is currently not allowed under the Institution for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion policy. The cost of this expansion is estimated at $1 billion.

Next, both of these House-passed opioid bills will go to the Senate where three committees have been developing their own legislative package to deal with the opioid crisis. Many of the Senate provisions are similar to the provisions in the House bill. Expect to see congressional passage of a major opioid legislative package by the fall.

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