AHA comments on draft recommendations to address opioid crisis

AHA yesterday provided feedback on a presidential commission’s draft recommendations to expand the federal response to the drug addiction and opioid crisis. “Of paramount importance in enabling this work is the need to preserve and protect health insurance coverage, including Medicaid,” wrote Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president for public policy analysis and development. AHA also urged the commission to recommend expanding the behavioral health workforce, and support full funding and implementation of recently enacted legislation to combat the epidemic. The association strongly agreed with the commission’s recommendation to grant waiver approvals for all states to eliminate barriers caused by the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases exclusion, and urged the commission to support legislation to align regulations governing the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, among other comments.