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CPolice chiefs finalized an agreement on a major bill to reduce addictions and deaths from opioids.
The bill, which covers 660 pages, was announced late Tuesday night and marks a significant bipartisan victory before the mid-term elections. The number of opioid deaths has reached 40,000 in 2017, and the law amends regulations, gives more tools to medical research entities and the police, and uses funds from various bills advanced earlier. this year.
Congressional leaders have not released a timetable for a vote, but said they expected the agreement to be passed "quickly" and are heading to the UN's office. President Trump. The bill, called the Patient and Community Support Act, must first be passed by the House in a vote this week and then the Senate will follow.
"Once promulgated, this legislation sends help to our communities fighting on the front lines of the crisis and to the millions of families affected by opioid-related disorders," officials said. of the commission in a statement. "While there is still work to be done, this bipartisan legislation is taking a big step forward and will save lives."
The final package brought together the work of eight committees in the House and five in the Senate.
Lawyers working on mental health and addiction have asked for additional funding and believe that some provisions will allow increased access to treatment. The Senate allocated $ 8.5 billion this year to fight the opioid crisis.
A provision negotiated by leaders allows hospitals to receive Medicaid payments when they host more patients with a mental illness or addiction. Previously, hospitals were allowed not to accommodate more than 16 patients, which resulted in long queues for care. The bill also allows patients to stay as long as 30 days, rather than the current 15-day limit. The provision has been included in the bill in the House, but not in the Senate version, and will last for four years.
Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who was among the senators who called for the change, called it "one of the most important things to expand access to substance abuse treatment for those who have it." really need".
The opioid legislation also allows more health care providers to give drugs to patients, which helps them avoid the painful symptoms of withdrawal. It seeks to reduce the prevalence of fentanyl, a very powerful drug, by analyzing packages from abroad. It also requires that prescription pain medications be sold in blister packs so that the amount received by patients is limited and patients can say how much.
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