{"id":85104,"date":"2017-09-30T17:24:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-30T21:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=85104"},"modified":"2017-09-29T21:11:02","modified_gmt":"2017-09-30T01:11:02","slug":"schneiderman-calls-on-insurance-companies-to-review-policies-that-drive-opioid-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=85104","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman calls on insurance companies to review policies that drive opioid epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bipartisan Coalition Of 37 AGs Urges Insurers To Examine Financial Incentives In Payment And Coverage Policies That Result In Over-Prescription Of Opioids And Make It Harder To Access Non-Opioid Alternatives<\/em><\/p>\n

Since 2010, A.G. Schneiderman Has Launched Multi-Pronged Strategy To Tackle The Epidemic \u2013 Including I-STOP, Which Has Reduced Doctor Shopping By 90%<\/em><\/p>\n

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, part of a bipartisan coalition of 37 Attorneys General, today urged health insurance companies to examine financial incentives in their payment and coverage policies that contribute to the opioid epidemic. The coalition called on the insurers to identify problematic policies and encourage reforms to make non-opioid alternatives for treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain more accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2013 including and especially insurance companies \u2013 have an obligation to address the opioid epidemic,\u201d said Schneiderman. \u201cInsurers must take a hard look at the systemic problems in our healthcare system that result in the over-prescription of opioids and fuel the cycle of addiction. My office will continue to bring all our resources to bear in fighting the opioid crisis that\u2019s destroyed too many families across New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to read the letter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Describing the opioid epidemic as \u201cthe preeminent public health crisis of our time,\u201d the 37 Attorneys General sent the letter today to industry trade groups and major insurance providers nationwide. It urges insurers to review their coverage and payment policies as the starting point in a coalition-initiated dialogue focused on incentive structures across the insurance industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have witnessed firsthand the devastation that the opioid epidemic has wrought on our\u00a0States in terms of lives lost and the costs it has imposed on our healthcare system and the broader economy,\u201d the letter states. \u201cAs the chief legal officers of our States, we are committed to using all tools at our disposal to combat this epidemic and to protect patients suffering from chronic pain or addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Attorneys General, in acknowledging the important role insurance companies can play in reducing opioid prescriptions, hope to\u00a0assess the positive and negative impacts incentive structures have on the opioid epidemic. Incentives that promote the use of non-opioid techniques will increase the practicality of medical providers considering such treatments, including\u00a0physical therapy, acupuncture, massage,\u00a0chiropractic care, and\u00a0non-opioid medications.<\/p>\n

Increased reliance on these alternatives will combat a significant factor contributing to the epidemic \u2013 the over-prescription of opioid painkillers. The letter notes the number of opioid prescriptions have quadrupled since 1999, despite Americans reporting a steady amount of pain.<\/p>\n

The letter was signed by the Attorneys General of New York, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, Schneiderman has launched a multi-pronged strategy to tackle New York\u2019s evolving opioid epidemic, including\u00a0creating the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (\u201cI-STOP\u201d)<\/a>. I-STOP made a series of enhancements to New York\u2019s prescription drug monitoring program that provide doctors with patient\u2019s up-to-date controlled substance prescription history and establish a safe disposal program for New Yorkers to get rid of expired or unneeded drugs. I-STOP has reduced \u201cdoctor shopping\u201d \u2013 in which an individual attempts to obtain the same or similar prescriptions from multiple physicians \u2013 by 90 percent since 2014.<\/p>\n

Schneiderman has also reached settlements with major health insurers to\u00a0remove barriers to life-saving addiction treatment<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0enforce Mental Health Parity Laws<\/a>.\u00a0Last week, the Attorney General\u2019s office sent letters to the country\u2019s three largest pharmacy benefit managers requesting documents, data, and other information regarding how they are addressing the opioid crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bipartisan Coalition Of 37 AGs Urges Insurers To Examine Financial Incentives In Payment And Coverage Policies That Result In Over-Prescription Of Opioids And Make It Harder To Access Non-Opioid Alternatives Since 2010, A.G. Schneiderman Has Launched Multi-Pronged Strategy To Tackle The Epidemic \u2013 Including I-STOP, Which Has Reduced Doctor Shopping By 90% New York Attorney […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}