Senate Finance Committee Advances Opioid Legislation

The Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted to unanimously approve, as amended, the Helping to End Addiction and Lessen (HEAL) Substance Use Disorders Act. The legislation would require Medicare and Medicaid to provide beneficiaries better education, prevention, management and treatment options for pain and addiction; increase Medicare beneficiary awareness of non-opioid alternative treatments; increase treatment for substance use disorder; improve tracking of opioid prescriptions under Medicare Part D; expand and clarify Medicaid’s options for treating beneficiaries with substance use disorder; and improve data used to evaluate treatments for opioid use disorder. AHA yesterday voiced support for certain provisions in the bill.