Senator hopeful on substance abuse bill accord
Bills aimed at curbing the Massachusetts opioid epidemic in part by making substance abuse services more easily accessible are still being ironed out by lawmakers who think they can reconcile the differences within the next two weeks.
Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, who chaired a special task force that looked at the opioid epidemic, said last week that lawmakers are trying to work out differences between bills approved by the House and Senate, and hope to do it without appointing lawmakers to a conference committee.
"Because the differences are so few, we are trying not to appoint a conference committee. I think we will be able to negotiate a compromise with the House," Flanagan said. "That is where it stands now. There are no major differences."
Meanwhile, a national association of doctors who treat drug addictions has concerns about a provision in the bill that would require insurance providers to cover in-patient detox treatment up to 10 or 21 days, without prior authorization from insurers.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine wrote to Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray last week, urging them to remove that provision in the bills.
The president of the group, based in Maryland, said he’s concerned the provision endorses in-patient detoxification as a preferred treatment for opioid addiction over other less costly treatments he says are often more effective.
"Very few people require twenty-four hour care to detoxify from opioids," Dr. Stuart Gitlow, president of the ASAM wrote in a letter to legislative leaders.
Bill proponents accused the association of launching a "last-ditch effort" to derail the bill.
Vic DiGravio, president of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, said the organization criticizing the drug abuse treatment legislation misread it, and the bill does not create mandates for in-patient care.
The bill requires access to services, but does not say everyone should be treated in-patient, DiGravio said, with the decision made in consultation with a health care provider. "That is different than ‘Everyone has to have detox services’," he said.
During hearings held around the state, lawmakers heard stories from family members and drug addicts about the difficulty in getting insurance companies, including the state-run MassHealth, to approve coverage for in-patient detox care.
"A lot of what we've heard from across the state, and we've been from North Adams to Hyannis and everywhere in between, and it was 'okay when I called to go in they would tell me that I hadn't used enough or they told me to try outpatient first, and it's not working for me,' " Flanagan said.
Another aspect lawmakers focused on when crafting the bill was the increasing number of deaths related to opioid addiction.
"The number of deaths, not only in Massachusetts but nationwide, is escalating to the point that if we do not look at what some of those real obstacles are and try to get beyond them, we are going to continue to lose lives," Flanagan said.
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