An article written by McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president Stephanie Kennan on effects the new opioid law just signed by President Donald Trump will have on Medicare patients has been published as an “INSIGHT” column by Bloomberg Law.
The new law, an effort to address the scourge of abuse and addiction surrounding the painkilling drugs, includes changes to expand treatment options and deter fraud in Medicare that hospitals and other providers will have to accommodate.
Some of the impacts, however, won’t be immediate because regulations will be needed to know how many of the provisions of the bill will be implemented, Kennan wrote.
“It remains to be seen how quickly the relevant agencies will be able to act on those initiatives as the administration has sought to slow the overall pace of regulation,” she wrote.
Among the things the new law provides: expansion of Medicare to include opioid treatment programs, expanded Medicare use of telehealth services, greater number of qualified healthcare workers who can receive waivers under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act to prescribe a medication that helps treat addiction when paired with health counseling.