Jun. 23, 2016
HARRISBURG – The state House today took on Pennsylvania’s growing opioid crisis by passing three pieces of legislation which are aimed at the problem. Sent to the Senate today were the following bills:
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House Bill 1698 - Would require that insurance plans provide access to abuse-deterrent opioid drugs, which are products that contain abuse-deterrent properties and are designed to be harder to crush, cut, dissolve or inject.
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House Bill 1699 - Would prohibit emergency providers from prescribing long-acting opioid painkillers in emergency rooms and place a limit on discharge prescriptions. This change will align Pennsylvania law with practices recommended by the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
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House Bill 1805 - Would require doctors and pharmacists to attend three hours of opioid and addiction-related training prior to obtaining relevant licenses, and would further require two hours of ongoing training in every renewal period.
Members of the York County delegation, Reps. Keith Gillespie, (R-Hellam), Seth Grove (R-Dover), Kate Klunk (R-Hanover), Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York Township), Mike Regan (R-Dillsburg), Stan Saylor (R-Red Lion) and Kevin Schreiber (D-York) attended a Thursday press conference on a statewide initiative to fight opioid abuse and issued the following statement relating to the legislation:
“Pennsylvania health officials have labeled the opioid epidemic the worst health crisis of the last 100 years. This is a problem that has no socio-economic boundaries and claimed thousands of lives statewide in the last few years.
“Today, the House moved three pieces of legislation that will hopefully be acted upon quickly by our Senate colleagues. These bills are mere ‘bullets’ in an all-out war that we as a society have been drawn into by a killer that is invading our neighborhoods.
“The Opioid Crisis and Joint Policy Committee will conduct hearings statewide throughout the summer to help determine elements of this deadly issue and corresponding legislation to confront them. A special session of the House is expected to follow to act upon the committee’s findings.
“We cannot sit idly by and hope this problem goes away on its own. There no doubt are communities in the Commonwealth that feel opioid addiction is something that can’t happen to them. We’re here to say it can and, in some cases, it already is and we are taking steps to deal with this crisis.
“We also admit government cannot do this alone. What we can do as leaders is spearhead the effort and lead Pennsylvania to what we hope is victory over a very worthy adversary.”
York County House Delegation
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Scott Little
slittle@pahousegop.com