Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
In response to a surge of opioid-related overdoses and fatalities across Massachusetts, the Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that increases opportunities for long-term substance abuse recovery for patients and employs a number of safeguards designed to deter misuse of opioids.
The multifaceted legislation, signed into law on Aug. 6, increases insurance coverage for patients with substance use disorders who seek treatment. Under the law, all insurers must cover emergency treatment and must cover inpatient treatment for up to 14 days without preauthorization.
The law establishes a Drug Formulary Commission tasked with identifying prescription opioids that may pose a threat to public health and appropriate substitutes, if available, that have abuse-deterrent properties such as tamper-resistance. Health insurers must cover the cost of the safer alternative, even if it is more expensive, and may not pass increased costs onto patients.
The law empowers the Department of Public Health to issue regulations to ensure that patients leaving substance disorder treatment programs have effective discharge plans, in order to lower the risk of relapse.
The DPH commissioner is also empowered to place an opiate into Schedule I, restricting access, if the Drug Formulary Commission deems it an imminent hazard to public health.
The office of the chief medical examiner is required to report fatalities linked to opioids, and hospitals are required to reports births impacted by opioids.
The law requires physicians to participate in the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program if they are prescribing Schedule II-IV opioids to patients. The program is designed to prevent patients from seeking the same prescription from multiple physicians.
The DPH will compile and maintain a list of prescription drop-off boxes across the state where patients can safely dispose of unwanted medications, decreasing the risk that the medications will be misused.
The law orders a number of studies, including a long-term study of substance use disorders, a study of the feasibility of requiring insurers to monitor and limit the use of prescription opioids, a study of the availability and insurance coverage of substance disorder treatment, and a study of treatment for non-violent offenders with substance disorders.
A state Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and Prevention will be established to facilitate interdepartmental programming and communication on issues relating to substance use disorders.
The bill was filed in the Senate after a months-long listening tour across the state, led by Sen. Jennifer Flanagan with five other Senate task force members.
While statistics on opioid-related overdoses and deaths are difficult to track and often lag by months or years, many municipalities have noted significant increases within the past year.
In March, the governor declared a public health emergency relative to opioid overdoses and pledged $20 million in state funding to boost treatment and recovery services.