Trump's opioid commission turns to the role of health insurers in addiction crisis
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In a joint press conference with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump addressed the opioid crisis and his nominee for drug czar, Rep. Tom Marino.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s opioid commission will turn its attention Friday to the role health insurance policies might play in contributing to the addiction crisis, the chairman of the commission said.
“Why are we still not seeing addiction services covered, and mental health services covered as broadly as every other type of disease?” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie asked in an interview with USA TODAY. “And what do we need to do to make sure that the law is enforced and followed?”
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires health insurers to treat mental health and substance abuse disorders the same as any other disease, without additional limits, co-pays or deductibles. But a report from a task force convened by President Barack Obama last year found that insurers still place a number limits on coverage, like more stringent pre-authorization requirements.Â
The role of health insurance companies has also come under increasing scrutiny for policies that sometimes favor powerful and addictive painkillers over less addictive — and more expensive — formulations.
More: As he chairs Trump’s opioid commission, Christie champions his home-state drug companies
Testifying at the commission are executives from some of the nation’s largest insurance companies: Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group and UPMC Health Plan.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, also has questions for many of those same companies. He’s following up on a report by The New York Times last month that insurance companies “erected more hurdles to approving addiction treatments than for the addictive substances themselves.”
“This is not a hypothetical problem,” Cummings wrote in letters to seven insurance companies Thursday. “The over-prescription of opioids leads to addiction and death.”
Also testifying at today’s hearing of the opioid commission:
â–º Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, whose department regulates about 70% of the employer-provided health insurance plans.
â–º Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, who oversees the largest health care system in the United States.
â–º Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who will speak about efforts to crack down on the importation of fentanyl, a powerful opioid often substituted for heroin.
In previous meetings, the commission heard from advocates for people suffering from addiction and from the pharmaceutical industry.
The commission will hold its last meeting Nov. 1 before delivering its final report to Trump.Â
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