Sen. Yaw revives bill to require coverage of abuse-deterrent opioids

A bill compelling insurance companies to cover abuse-deterrent opioids is back in play in Harrisburg, six months after it was defeated by interest groups.

State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, announced Friday that he will reintroduce the bill, meant to encourage a shift from easily abused painkillers to those that are difficult to cut, dissolve or crush — and, therefore, less likely to be snorted or injected. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has encouraged the development of abuse-deterrent versions, but they can be more expensive and may not be covered by some plans.

Prescription opioid abuse is widely blamed for spurring the epidemic of heroin abuse, as pill users gravitated to more powerful street drugs. “I am hopeful that broader availability of abuse-deterrent opioids can aid in the fight to prevent abuse and misuse of opioid medications,” Mr. Yaw said in a press release.

Last year, Mr. Yaw, along with Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, introduced similar bills. Mr. Heffley's version passed the House, 190-3, in June.

But in late October, as the General Assembly passed a package of legislation meant to curb opioid prescribing, an amendment poisoned the abuse-deterrent opioids bill.

Sen. Don White, R-Indiana, amended the bill to call for mandatory guidelines on the prescribing of abuse-deterrent opioids, and to require that doctors hand out warnings with every opioid prescription.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society then swung into opposition, and the amended bill failed to get a final Senate vote.

Last week, the Allegheny County medical examiner revealed that 613 people died from drugs last year, a jump of 45 percent over the prior year, largely because of heroin laced with fentanyl.