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BEND – Oregon health officials have postponed consideration of a controversial change to the Oregon health plan that could have forced many chronic pain patients to take opioids.
The Bulletin states that although patients with chronic pain applauded the situation, a sign that the agency wanted to abandon the proposal, early indications suggest that the delay may still be produce.
The proposal was to be reviewed Thursday by the Health Evidence Review Board. However, Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, asked for more time to allow the agency to review a potential conflict of interest with a consultant who had worked on the proposal.
The study proposal would establish a new coverage under the Oregon Health Plan for five chronic pain conditions that were not covered in the past. This would allow patients with these conditions to receive opioid and non-opioid medications as well as a range of non-pharmacological services.
But the proposed policy has been controversial because of the initial language that would have forced patients with these conditions to gradually reduce their opioid use within a year.
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