House Passes Sweeping Opioids Bill

The U.S. House has passed a major opioid bill to expand treatment options, block the flow of fentanyl into the United States, and reduce the number of addictive pills in circulation, reports the Washington Times . The measure combines more than 50 individual bills and clears a path for Senate action and approval from President Trump. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) says the bipartisan passage indicates that Congress is serious about halting the opioid epidemic. Overdoses from opioids killed more than 42,000 Americans in 2016, and the official 2017 count will probably be higher. House leaders expect the Senate to consider the legislation, which calls for a moratorium on Medicaid-payment limits for drug treatment at certain centers, sets up a Web-based "dashboard" of national efforts and strategies to fight the opioid crisis, and connects overdose victims with follow-up treatment. It also mandates that the U.S. Postal Service must demand advanced electronic data on every package from foreign posts by 2021, so customs agents can better target shipments of deadly synthetic opioids from abroad. The House package costs $3 billion, on top of approximately $4 billion that Congress allocated for the opioid crisis in a spending bill earlier this year. However, the legislation is paid for, mainly via changes that return money to Medicaid by permitting states to keep a greater amount of rebate dollars.