Congress Aims to Draft Compromise Legislation to Address Opioid Crisis

The U.S. House, after overwhelmingly approving 18 bills last week aimed at addressing the nation’s opioid crisis, will work with the Senate to craft compromise legislation, according to the Associated Press.

The House bills will need to be reconciled with the Senate’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed in March. The Senate measure authorizes funds for various drug treatment and prevention programs for a wide range of people, including those in jail.

CARA expands prescription drug take-back programs and establishes monitoring to prevent over-prescribing of opioid painkillers. It would expand the availability of medication-assisted treatment, including in criminal justice settings, and would support treatment as an alternative to incarceration. The measure also calls for training and equipping first responders on the use of the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

Lawmakers hope to send President Obama a compromise bill before Congress begins its summer recess in July.

Both Republicans and Democrats have an election-year incentive to make progress on the opioid epidemic, which is impacting cities and towns across the country, the AP notes. House Democrats had offered an amendment to provide $600 million in emergency funding for the opioid bills. Republicans blocked the bill, saying funding will come when Congress passes its 2017 spending bills for federal agencies.

President Obama has proposed $1.1 billion in new mandatory funding over two years to expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use.

Last week, the White House noted in a statement that four in five new heroin users started out by misusing prescription opioid pain medications. “These trends will not change by simply authorizing new grant programs, studies and reports. Congressional action is needed to fund the tools communities need to confront this epidemic and accelerate important policies like training health care providers on appropriate opioid prescribing, an essential component of this effort.”