Opioids

Stakeholders are hoping to see methadone administration flexibilities continued after the COVID-19 public health emergency, a request that could be in reach after the Biden administration said last Thursday (April 1) it will review methadone treatment policies and develop recommendations to modernize them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has overshadowed policymakers’ attention to the opioid and substance use disorder crisis, stakeholders say, but provisions included in COVID-19 relief legislation are a good start in recognizing the connection between the two public health emergencies.

The Biden administration reportedly plans to pull back a buprenorphine prescribing guideline that was announced by HHS in the last days of the Trump administration and would exempt physicians from certain certification requirements needed to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.

The Pew Charitable Trusts unveiled a report earlier this month (Oct. 20) detailing ways states could expand access to naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, as state and local reports show overdoses are on the rise this year.

A new Bipartisan Policy Center report on the opioid crisis says the federal government should do a better job using its opioid funds to target at-risk groups and should revisit Medicaid practices that restrict access to treatment.

CMS on Thursday (July 30) released a request for information on whether the agency should grant Part D providers exceptions to electronic prescribing requirements for controlled substances and under what circumstances.

HHS on Monday (July 13) finalized a rule that loosens privacy restrictions on substance use disorder records, inching towards fully aligning the strict privacy scheme with the less-stringent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules although additional rulemaking is needed for full alignment.

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday (June 16) cleared a final Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration rule that would loosen privacy restrictions on substance use records.

CMS plans to issue this spring several overdue Medicaid guidance documents meant to help states tackle the nation’s drug overdose crisis, an agency official told lawmakers Tuesday (March 3) in response to questions triggered by an Inside Health Policy investigation of the Trump administration’s lagging implementation of a major opioid law.