Governors Commend Congressional Action on Opioids Crisis in Health

BPC’s Governors’ Council commends Congress for the action taken to date to address the nation’s opioids crisis.

Last year the council made several recommendations to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Their recommendations concerned four key areas:

  • Curb Illicit Supply
  • Curb Unnecessary Prescription Opioids Supply
  • Treat and Promote Recovery
  • Educate America

The House passed legislation last week to address many of these same areas, including H.R. 5812, the CONNECTIONS Act to direct CDC to promote the use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. Further, the House passed on strong bipartisan votes legislation to address the illicit supply, including H.R. 2851, The SITSA Act and H.R. 5788, the Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act.

The governors applaud House’s passage today of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act which improves access to medication-assisted treatment and expands the utilization of telehealth services for treatment of substance use disorder. Importantly, Congress has offset the costs of these proposals.

We hope the Senate will promptly pass similar legislation and a joint conference can quickly send a comprehensive proposal to the White House.