The Congressional Budget Office recently issued a report including recommendations to reduce Opioid use and the impact on individuals covered by Medicare and Medicaid. See The Opioid Crisis: Federal Policy Approaches to Reduce Supply, Demand, and Harm
One of the recommendations is to encourage states to be more active in monitoring opioid prescriptions.
Many states have taken steps to effectively regulate opioid prescriptions in workers’ compensation claims. This is consistent with our recommendation that WCMSA policy should recognize state regulation in determining the amounts to be included in WCMSAs. Assuming that the dosage at the time of an injury or illness extends for the life expectancy of the individual is unreasonable when there is state regulation that requires that opioid dosage must be reduced.
UWC has shared the CBO report with CMS and offered to assist in identifying best practices in this area to consider in federal policy.
