The road to recovery
After enacting legislation in 2016 to address the opioid crisis the Baker administration and the Legislature could have declared success and moved on. But people — mostly young people — are still dying in unacceptable numbers. Fewer of them than before new policies were enacted, yes. But nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts died an opioid-related death in the first nine months of this year — that’s more than five a day. There is more work to be done.
Gov. Charlie Baker recently filed another bill aimed at addressing the continuing crisis. The 2016 legislation focused on expanded access to treatment and reducing the number of opioid prescriptions; this one, dubbed the CARE Act, builds on that work.
The bill calls for putting $30 million in federal Medicaid funds toward expanded treatment and recovery services. It calls for new standards for licensing clinicians and treatment facilities, and new standards for credentialing “recovery coaches.”
Those steps are intended to benefit both addicts, and families who want to help their addicted loved ones — but who find themselves adrift in a sea of treatment options, wondering which ones are legitimate, which ones offer the best chance at success.
Baker also wants to get back to the issue of individuals who overdose — and survive only to walk away without pursuing further treatment. His 2016 bill proposed allowing hospitals to hold individuals involuntarily in the emergency room for up to three days, which drew controversy. This version would allow medical providers to send addicts to a treatment center, involuntarily, for up to 72 hours — in the same way a psychiatric patient deemed a risk to himself or others can be held for treatment.
There are many other provisions. The bill would eliminate paper prescriptions for opioids, to further limit doctor shopping. The bill also expands school-based prevention and education programs.
Lawmakers do not meet in formal sessions again until next year, but when they reconvene they ought to waste no time bringing this legislation to the floor.
This crisis is devastating to addicts and families but also to the entire commonwealth. The entire We are losing potentially productive members of our communities at a terrifying rate and the state has a critical interest in reversing it.