A bipartisan piece of legislation, the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act (S. 3067/H.R. 5172), has been languishing in the House of Representatives since last November. The bill proposes a few important changes to the way Medicare covers opioid-alternative treatments, but in summation; currently non-opioid treatment alternatives are financially discouraged because they are not covered by federal insurance. There are many procedures and surgeries which use opioid therapy as the first method of managing pain, but that do not necessarily require opioids. Opponents of this legislation sympathize with the economic well-being of so-called, “Big Pharma”, however it must be noted that NOPAIN does not seek to limit access to opioids (for many people they are needed to effectively manage pain) but instead seeks to increase access to other options. It is estimated that 3 million Americans become newly addicted to opioids every year after being prescribed opioids for post-surgery pain management. Every day the USA loses 130 people to opioid-specific overdoses, to say nothing of the other drug-related deaths per day. If you would like to learn more, I strongly suggest you read this article posted in medpagetoday.com

If you would like to read about the NOPAIN ACT, you can click HERE, and if you would like to read the NOPAIN ACT in its original form, click HERE.