The House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider more than two-dozen bills to combat the opioid epidemic, including new legislation aimed at reforms to Medicare and Medicaid.
The health subcommittee of Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing on the bills on April 11. This is the latest round of legislation to come out of the committee, which has already considered more than 30 bills aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic.
Last month, the subcommittee held a two-day hearing on 25 prevention and public health solutions, and in February it reviewed eight bills aimed at boosting enforcement tools.
The raft of bills seeks to introduce a series of reforms to Medicare and Medicaid aimed at curbing opioid abuse.
One of the bills, for example, requires each state’s Medicaid program to integrate a prescription drug-monitoring program into Medicaid providers’ clinical workflow. The monitoring program is an electronic database that tracks opioid prescriptions in a state.
Another bill requires Childrens’ Health Insurance Program to cover treatment of mental illness and substance use disorders.
Some legislation would direct the Trump administration to evaluate the use of abuse-deterrent opioids in Medicare plans.
Energy and Commerce Commitee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., has said he hopes to get all of the bills through the House before the Memorial Day recess.
The announcement comes the same day as a new legislative package that seeks to tackle the opioid crisis. The legislation includes provisions to bolster government research into nonaddictive painkillers and increase access to mental health in schools.
