Arizona limits access to opioid prescriptions
Governor’s order affects state workers, Medicaid recipients
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday ordered the state’s employee insurance plan and its Medicaid plan to limit narcotic painkiller prescriptions in an effort to cut future drug addiction.
The order signed by the Republican governor limits the initial prescription of opioid drugs for adults to a seven-day supply. Children are not prescribed more than a seven-day supply unless they have cancer, other chronic disease or a traumatic injury.
Ducey announced the actions during a Capitol event kicking off a campaign highlighting substance abuse issues known as National Red Ribbon Week.
“This is a preventive step, and one we hope that employers and insurance companies will follow our lead to address the scourge of addiction on the front end,” Ducey said.
The governor also announced that people with stateprovided insurance will no longer need preapproval to be prescribed Vivitrol, a drug that blocks receptors for opiates and alcohol that is prescribed to recovering addicts.
The governor pushed back on questions from reporters about putting government between patients and doctors.
“We lost 401 Arizonans in the last year due to this issue. We know that there is a problem, and we’re acting on it,” he said.