Let’s Make Safe, Non-Opioid Pain Treatment Affordable - Josh Rosenthal, Guest MINDSETTER™
Josh Rosenthal, Guest MINDSETTER™
Let’s Make Safe, Non-Opioid Pain Treatment Affordable - Josh Rosenthal, Guest MINDSETTER™
Nearly 80,000 of our fellow Americans died of an opioid overdose in the most recently measured 12 months, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. While we have made progress here in Rhode Island, more than 250 Rhode Islanders lose their lives to an overdose each year.
For each person we lose, there is a grief-stricken family that goes through unspeakable pain. Having lost my son Nathan to a fentanyl overdose, I know this firsthand. I am dedicated to making sure other families don’t have to go through what my family went through.
To do so, we must re-double our efforts to stop people from going down the road that leads to dependence and addiction—a road that often begins with an opioid pain reliever prescription. Research shows that people can become dependent on an opioid-based pain reliever in as little as 5 days.
One important way to accomplish this goal is to eliminate the roadblocks to safe, effective non-opioid pain treatment alternatives. It is essential that Rhode Islanders have access to affordable and evidence-based non-opioid pain treatment.
That is exactly what the Non-Opioid Pain Treatment Parity Act, S3022subA/H7628, sponsored by State Senator Jake Bissaillon and Representative Art Handy, will do. It will level the playing field, requiring insurance companies to cover the non-opioid prescription pain relievers coming on the market in the same way they cover opioid pain relievers, as well as ensure robust coverage for other non-opioid pain treatments, such as physical therapy.
It is often the case that blind pain studies confirm that a combination of Advil and Tylenol is all that is needed. But in cases where physical therapy or one of the non-opioid prescription pain relievers that are coming on the market, to name two examples, are called for, this legislation will ensure that they are well-covered by health insurance.
Because opioid pain relievers are now mainly generic and, as a result, less expensive, they are unfortunately still the path of least resistance for insurance companies focused on the next quarter’s bottom line. As a result, without a state requirement, patients are often denied or provided inadequate coverage for effective non-opioid pain treatment.
This penny-wise, pound-foolish approach is not only callous; it ignores the large financial burden that new instances of opioid use disorder create for impacted families, the state budget and Rhode Island as a whole. The average cost of residential treatment is $50,000. The state spends $245 million annually on substance use disorder treatments, 70% through Medicaid claims, according to the Rhode Island Department of Administration. And the National Institutes of Health estimates that the total cost of opioid use disorder and fatal overdoses in Rhode Island is $2.9 billion each year.
While it is essential that all who need it have access to quality treatment, it is far better and more cost-effective to prevent dependence and addiction in the first place. With the State Senate passing the Non-Opioid Parity Act unanimously on Thursday, I urge the RI House to follow suit before the session closes. Let’s seize the opportunity to prevent more ruined lives and senseless deaths.