Attorneys General urged to help end prior authorization for MAT
The AMA last week urged the nation's attorneys general to help end insurance company policies that delay or deny care for substance use disorders. As part of an agreement to resolve an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of Anthem and Cigna's prior authorization and network adequacy policies, the two health insurance plans agreed to end their policies of prior authorization for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in New York and the rest of the nation.
In a letter to the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) (PDF), the AMA strongly supported the agreement and pledged its support to NAAG with reaching similar agreements with other payers across the nation. The AMA highlighted that more than 33,000 Americans died in 2015 due to an opioid-related overdose, two million had a substance use disorder involving opioid analgesics, and nearly 600,000 people have a substance use disorder involving heroin.
In addition to ending prior-authorization policies that delay care for patients, the AMA also called on all payers "to end policies that require patients to repeat step therapy protocols or retry therapies failed under other benefit plans before qualifying for coverage of a current effective therapy for substance use disorders."
Increasing access to MAT is one of the key recommendations of the AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse.
Rhode Island releases opioid educational toolbox
The AMA and the Rhode Island Medical Society (RIMS) recently released a Rhode Island specific "toolbox" to provide physicians and other health care professionals with data, resources and information designed to help reverse the state's opioid epidemic. The toolbox, which is being promoted throughout Rhode Island, includes details about new state laws, resources on referrals for patients with a substance use disorder, information for co-prescribing naloxone and more.
"Rhode Island physicians have made important strides in making more judicious prescribing decisions, supporting access to treatment and making naloxone more widely available," said Patrice A. Harris, MD, and Chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. "This toolbox will complement those efforts by providing data, tools and practical resources that can increase awareness, enhance education and help patients."
The AMA also worked with the Medical Association of the State of Alabama to produce an Alabama-specific toolbox. The AMA will be working with medical societies to evaluate the toolbox resources and revise them based on the findings.
For more information, please contact Daniel Blaney-Koen of the AMA.
Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by Providers' Clinical Support System for Opioid Therapies (grant no. 5H79TI025595) from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
ASAM holding public comment period for drug testing appropriateness document
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) is inviting public comment on a draft of a drug-testing appropriateness document that seeks to provide guidance on the use of drug testing in the diagnosis, treatment and promotion of recovery for patients with, or at risk for, addiction.
The draft document is now open for external review. The deadline for responses is Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. Eastern time. ASAM asks that the recommendations in its draft manuscript are still draft and should not be copied, disseminated or implemented until final publication. All comments can be submitted through an online tool, which also includes a conflict of interest form that must be completed in order to finalize submission.
If you have any questions regarding the document please contact ASAM at [email protected] by Feb. 28.
