Several of U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly’s provisions passed the Senate Monday as part of bipartisan legislation that would help combat the opioid epidemic. The Opioid Crisis Response Act (OCRA) passed with broad bipartisan support on a 99-1 vote. Donnelly’s provisions would improve access to opioid abuse treatment services and help speed up the approval of non-opioid or non-addictive treatments for pain.
Donnelly said, “The opioid abuse epidemic knows no political or geographic barriers. I am pleased we got this bipartisan legislation through the Senate because communities across Indiana and our country are continuing to face distressing rates of addiction and overdoses. It will take all of us, working together, attacking this public health crisis from every angle, to be successful. I’m proud that a number of my provisions are included in this bill, and I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this epidemic.”
Other provisions in the legislation would reauthorize a state grant program that has already brought nearly $22 million to Indiana over the last two years, would help state and local governments improve prescription drug monitoring programs, and would help states increase the number of drug disposal programs.
As law enforcement continues to fight the spread of fentanyl and heroin, the legislation would reauthorize and improve the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program. Donnelly has pushed to fully fund this program, which currently helps Marion, LaPorte, Lake, and Porter Counties partner with federal and local law enforcement and access federal funding to combat drug trafficking in Indiana. The bill would also provide resources to help protect officers from accidental exposure to dangerous narcotics while they are treating an overdose victim.
Background on Senator Donnelly’s provisions in the Opioid Crisis Response Act:
· The bill would provide student loan forgiveness for eligible health professionals that provide substance use disorder treatment services in mental health professional shortage areas or areas with an above average drug overdose death rate. This loan forgiveness would be administered through the existing National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program. It is based on the bipartisan Donnelly-Murkowski Strengthening the Addiction Treatment Workforce Act, introduced in 2017.
· A provision based on the bipartisan Advancing Innovation in Alternative Pain and Addiction Therapies Act, which Donnelly helped introduce with Senators Hatch (R-UT), Young (R-IN), and Bennet (D-CO), would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue new guidance clarifying how new non-addictive treatments for pain or addiction can qualify for faster FDA approval.
· Language included in the bill is based on the bipartisan Donnelly-Young Providing Clarity in the Development of Pain Treatments Act and would require FDA to issue new guidance clarifying how a pain treatment can be labeled as an “opioid sparing” treatment. Opioid sparing treatments are medications that reduce the need for opioids.
Over the last several years, Donnelly has successfully pushed for increased federal resources to combat the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment, and recovery services:
· In April 2018, Donnelly welcomed a $10.9 million federal grant for Indiana that came through the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act that Donnelly helped enact. This was in addition to the $10.9 million in grant funding that Indiana received in April 2017 through the Donnelly supported 21st Century Cures Act.
· A number of measures that Donnelly either introduced or supported to combat the opioid abuse epidemic were included in the bipartisan government funding bill that became law in March 2018.
o The bill included funds to support the addiction treatment workforce through National Health Service Corps, which Donnelly advocated for as part of hisStrengthening the Addiction Treatment Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). That funding will help recruit more substance use disorder providers to serve in underserved communities.
o The bill also included $4 billion in funds to combat the epidemic through prevention, treatment and recovery programs, which Donnelly has repeatedly supported, including in February’s bipartisan budget agreement.
· In February 2018, Donnelly welcomed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approval of Indiana’s Medicaid waiver extension application. The approval will allow Indiana to enhance HIP with up to $80 million in annual federal funding to support efforts to address the opioid crisis.
· In November 2017, Donnelly’s bipartisan bill to help address veterans’ opioid abuse was signed into law by President Trump.
· In 2016, several of Donnelly’s provisions were signed into law that would expand prevention and treatment programs.
