Congress, let Medicare pay for non-opioids

Earlier this year, I read a heartfelt article from Lou Duran, who wrote about losing her son to an opioid overdose (Journal, Sept. 23). As a specialist in substanceabuse prevention, I’d like to second her opinion about the importance of making non-opioid pain relievers more accessible. And one easy way to go about this, as Lou correctly points out, is to change Medicare rules so more patients who undergo surgery have access to non-opioids.

In 2016, 3 million patients across the U.S who were prescribed opioids after surgery became persistent users. The more times a patient is exposed to these medications and the longer they take them, the greater their risk of becoming physically dependent. By substituting newer, effective nonopioid analgesics for opioids, we can help stop addiction before it starts.

Modernizing Medicare policies to incentivize use of these safer non-opioid pain treatments would directly benefit New Mexico’s elderly and disabled individuals, who are at inflated risk of addiction. It would also mean fewer pills in local homes, where they can fall into the hands of young people or be redirected to the street.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did take an important step forward earlier this year, when they ruled that Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) will receive payments for non-opioid pain management alternatives. However, they didn’t include Hospital Outpatients Departments (HOPDs) in their decision, which means patients in those settings will continue to be prescribed opioids. More work needs to be done to reduce the oversupply of opioids in our communities.

And this is where Congress, especially New Mexico’s representatives, including Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., can help. Sen. Heinrich has demonstrated a sense of urgency in addressing this crisis, but more direct action is necessary if we hope to truly end these senseless deaths. I ask him to help increase patients’ access to non-opioids by sponsoring legislation that will instruct Medicare to enhance access to non-opioid pain relievers for all patients.