Summary/Abstract

The White House finalized a rule that ensures doctors can prescribe more of the addiction treatment buprenorphine. Doctors currently are allowed to prescribe buprenorphine to only 100 patients.. The White House finalized a rule that increases that cap to 275 patients.

Content

 White House Slams Opioid Bill

The White House called a major bill aimed at preventing opioid abuse toothless without an additional $920 million in funding that Democrats have been pushing.

The comments from top administration officials on Tuesday came as Democrats are poised to oppose legislation being hammered out at a conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers.

A draft bill released early Tuesday by the committee is "insufficient to make a dent in providing treatment to people who desperately need it," said Michael Botticelli, director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House.

All Democrats on the committee also said Tuesday they wouldn't sign off on any bill that doesn't include $920 million in funding that is offset from other programs. The committee is expected to meet Wednesday on the legislation.

The push for funding taken from other programs comes as Democrats made previously unsuccessful attempts to add $600 million in new funding to both the original House and Senate bills. Now the Democrats are looking to use existing funds.

"We are willing to put federal budget savings on the table, demonstrating that there is no excuse for inaction when it comes to funding for treatment and prevention of opioid addiction," the letter said.

Republicans are already attempting to circumvent any push to add new funding, with some senators pointing to support for the conference legislation from more than 100 addiction recovery advocacy groups.

Botticelli didn't say that President Obama would veto the bill, but has said that the White House has continually stressed that more funding is needed to combat a gap in treatment options for addicts.

Botticelli noted that the additional funding, which would go to aid treatment programs in states, is needed, as only 12 percent of opioid addicts have access to treatment.

Meanwhile, the White House made a series of moves on Tuesday to help expand access to treatment.

Most notably, the White House finalized a rule that ensures doctors can prescribe more of the addiction treatment buprenorphine. Doctors currently are allowed to prescribe buprenorphine to only 100 patients because the drug itself can become addicting. The White House finalized a rule that increases that cap to 275 patients.

The administration also proposed a rule that would eliminate an issue that some advocates have said incentivizes doctors to prescribe painkillers.

Medicare payments for hospitals are now tied to scores on a patient satisfaction survey, which includes questions on how the hospital managed pain. Some advocates have warned that to get a good score on pain management, hospitals will provide unnecessary opioids to patients.

The proposed rule would take out the pain management questions in the survey.