Senate Passes Sweeping Opioids Package

The U.S. Senate passed an $8.4 billion package of 70 bills aimed at addressing the nation's deadly opioid epidemic, reports the Washington Post . The House passed a similar measure in June, but a key difference between the bills involves the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion rule, which bars federal Medicaid reimbursements for inpatient substance abuse treatment in centers with more than 16 beds whose patients also have mental illness. The House bill partially overturns the IMD exclusion for mental-health patients who also have an opioid use disorder, while the Senate bill ensures pregnant and postpartum women continue receiving Medicaid-covered services administered outside such facilities, but does not allow Medicaid to pay for addiction treatment in larger facilities.