AHA recommends federal actions to address opioid crisis

Eliminating the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion for adults under age 65 would help improve access to treatment for those with severe or complex substance use disorders, AHA told the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee today in a statement submitted for a hearing on the federal response to the opioid crisis. Among other actions to stem the opioid epidemic, AHA urged the committee to support legislation to align Part 2 federal regulations governing the confidentiality of substance use disorder treatment records with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; enhance access to medication-assisted treatment; and strengthen and ensure prescription drug monitoring programs can share information across state lines. In related news, the Government Accountability Office yesterday recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services quickly develop an implementation plan for its strategy to address prenatal opioid exposure and neonatal abstinence syndrome, which includes having health care providers receive continuing education on managing and treating infants with NAS and promoting non-pharmacologic treatment.