The Guts to Buck the Lobbyists

Ohio has proposed something novel: Let's not pay for expensive naloxone prescriptions and instead invest resources in ensuring the delivery of appropriate medical care and provide help for those struggling with dependence and addiction.

The Ohio BWC's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee recently recommended that BWC stop paying for auto-injector pens of naloxone.  While BWC would still cover the less expensive nasal inhalation form of the opioid overdose antidote, the auto-injector pens have become prohibitively expensive (apparently, BWC recently rejected a bill from a single Florida pharmacy for $824,000 worth of naloxone auto-injector pens supplied to 208 injured workers - that's an average of nearly $4,000 per injured worker).

Instead, BWC has put controls in place to ensure that reimbursement for opioid medications is limited to instances in which best practices are being followed.  And they're willing to pay for treatment for opioid dependence for up to 18 months, including two failed attempts at recovery.

So here we have a state significantly curtailing opioid use, providing a cost-effective version of an overdose antidote, and paying for opioid dependence treatment where necessary.  

Before you dismiss Ohio's efforts as impractical in a non-monopolistic state, take a step back and ask yourself whether this isn't a rational, measured, clinically responsible series of measures that will actually promote injured worker health, wellness, and recovery?  If it is, then why isn't it practical in your state?

I think Johnnie Hanna, pharmacy program director at BWC, summed it up: "If they've got the guts to buck the lobbyists... they can get these things done."

It is said that discretion is the better part of valor.  Except, I would suggest, when it's not.  Why aren't you doing these things in your state?

Do you have the guts?

Michael
On Twitter @PRIUM1