House Health Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., said it would be a “pipe dream” for Congress to pass a wide-ranging bill aimed at tackling the opioid epidemic, instead encouraging incremental steps.
“If we are chasing the ‘big plan,’ it’s a pipe dream,” the Illinois Republican said Monday, speaking at the policy conference for the Federation of American Hospitals. He added that Congress must “take a number of steps,” allowing them to evaluate which approaches have worked.
The Trump administration has taken a few approaches at fighting the epidemic, including approving waivers through the Medicaid program that allow more people to receive treatment, and its Food and Drug Administration is pushing for other treatment options, both for chronic pain and to stave off addiction cravings.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has set a goal to pass an opioid-related bill in the chamber by Memorial Day. Lawmakers are deciding what to include in the legislation, and recent hearings have focused on stemming the use of fentanyl, a potent opioid that is often mixed in with heroin and other drugs such as cocaine without drug users’ knowledge, driving deaths.
The opioid crisis caused 42,000 overdose deaths in 2016, from drugs such as heroin, fentanyl and prescription painkillers.
“The situation is completely overwhelming us,” Roskam said of the opioid epidemic.
“There is a lot of humility here,” he continued. “This is a crisis that is grabbing people and destroying families and ruining lives.”
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who spoke after Roskam, echoed some of his sentiments, saying some policy areas needed to be better evaluated to see if they worked.
“In some areas we know what the right answers are,” he said. “In other areas that knowledge base needs to be more broadly disseminated.”
