From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Health insurance providers would be required to cover at least two prescription pain medications as alternatives to opioids under a new bill.
The bill requires those alternatives to have Food and Drug Administration approval for pain treatment and not be schedule I, II or III controlled substances.
The legislation also calls for health insurance providers and self-insured governmental health plans to provide coverage for and access to at least three nonpharmacological treatment options.
Opioid deaths in Wisconsin have risen almost every year on record, according to the Department of Health Services. While in 2023 deaths were down to 1,415 from 1,459 in 2022, both of those numbers show a drastic increase compared to the 111 deaths in 2000, according to the most recently available data.
Bill authors Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, and Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, said the measure would create “a framework for true pain parity.”
“Together, we can expand access to innovative and effective pain treatments, reduce unnecessary reliance on opioids, and empower patients to take control of their care,” they wrote in the cosponsorship memo.
See the DHS opioid death data.
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