The Senate Health Committee will meet next week to consider a sweeping legislative package aimed at combatting the opioid epidemic.
The heart of the package will be a reauthorization of the SUPPORT Act, which focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery services for opioid misuse, including fentanyl.
The bill was first passed in 2018, but lawmakers missed a September deadline to reauthorize many of its provisions.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed a limited version of the bill over the summer, but the full House chamber hasn’t yet approved the legislation. It’s not clear whether Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) considers the bill a priority.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) never introduced its own version.
Ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) proposed his own version of the bill after accusing Sanders of dragging his feet, and in November joined with 300 advocacy groups calling on the committee to reauthorize the legislation.
“Thousands of Americans are dying each month from opioid and drug overdoses. Reauthorizing the SUPPORT Act is crucial to better address the opioid epidemic. Glad to see the Committee taking up this important legislation,” Cassidy said in a statement Tuesday.
The package being considered next week will also contain other addiction-focused bills that have already been introduced, including one that would continue to allow providers to prescribe controlled substances like medications for opioid use disorder over telemedicine.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration relaxed its restrictions on controlled substance prescriptions to allow telehealth prescribing. Previously, patients needed at least one in-person visit, but the administration changed the rule to prevent lapses in care.
The agency tried to roll back those flexibilities, but has faced pushback from doctors, telehealth groups and bipartisan members of Congress.
“I am pleased that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to reauthorize and expand the SUPPORT Act to begin to address this epidemic in America. Let’s be clear: This is a very modest piece of legislation. Much more needs to be done to address this crisis,” Sanders said in a statement.
