Amendment #559 to H4000

Opiate Commission Amendment

Mr. Mahoney of Worcester moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

"SECTION  XXXX.  There shall be a commission to study and examine the feasibility of requiring insurance providers in the commonwealth, including MassHealth, to implement a prescription monitoring and assessment program.  The commission shall consist of: the commissioner of public health, or a designee; the director of the office of Medicaid, or a designee; the president of the board of registration in pharmacy, or a designee; a representative from the board of registration in medicine; a representative from the division of insurance; a representative from the group insurance commission; and an advanced practice nurse, a health economist and a professor of medicine , who shall be appointed by the governor.

The commission shall investigate ways in which insurance providers may monitor and limit policy holders’ use of schedule 2 and schedule 3 opiates, as defined in chapter 94C of the General Laws, which shall include, but is not limited to (i) a cost-benefit analysis of requiring insurance providers to restrict  prescription coverage of such opiates to no more than an initial 15 day supply, and one 15-day refill supply within a 75-day period, per individual, and (ii) requiring insurance providers to conduct addiction assessments and establish substance abuse treatment plans for individuals seeking to obtain more than two 15-day prescriptions of such opiates.

The commission shall file a report on its findings and recommendations, together with any draft legislation, with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the chairs of the joint committee on health care finance, and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before January 15, 2015.