September 15, 2022
On September 8, the AMA released a new report detailing the toll of the nation’s overdose and death epidemic.
Physicians and other healthcare professionals have reduced opioid prescribing in every state—by nearly 50% nationally. However, that by itself cannot reverse the trend of drug-related overdose deaths. For the first time, in 2021 drug-related overdose deaths exceeded 100,000—primarily due to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. Overdose deaths are amplified by underlying social needs including housing and transportation.
The AMA report calls for a campaign to include:
• Policymakers, health insurance plans, national pharmacy chains and other stakeholders to change their focus and remove barriers – such as prior authorization -- to evidence-based care. States should require health insurance companies and other payers to make non-opioid pain care alternatives more accessible and affordable.
• Medical and other healthcare professional licensing boards to help patients with pain by reviewing and rescinding arbitrary restrictions on opioid therapy—as now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• State officials to remove punitive policies against pregnant individuals and parents who have a substance use disorder. State departments of corrections and private jails and prisons need to ensure that all individuals with an opioid use disorder or mental illness receive evidence-based care while incarcerated -- and are linked to care upon release. This includes ensuring access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
• Employers to review their health insurance and benefits plans to ensure employees and their families have access to pain specialists and affordable access to comprehensive pain care, physicians who provide MOUD, and psychiatrists who are in the employer’s network.
• Public health officials to help control infectious disease spread through supporting comprehensive syringe services programs, reduce overdose through widespread, community-level distribution of naloxone and fentanyl test strips, and pilot projects in support of overdose prevention centers.
• Faith leaders to help destigmatize substance used disorders and harm reduction by educating their members and holding overdose awareness events.
The MMA recently developed a physician toolkit designed to reverse the overdose epidemic in partnership with the AMA and Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS). The physician toolkit gives Minnesota physicians resources, information and tools to help treat patients dealing with substance use and substance abuse disorders, and provides opportunities to learn about better care for pain. The physician toolkit comes at a time when Minnesota public health officials have reported a record number of overdose deaths in 2021, most of which can be attributed to fentanyl.
To learn how you can play a role in reversing the overdose epidemic, check out the physician toolkit here. In addition, please visit the PCSS website to view the on demand webinar that was done to launch the toolkit.
May 29, 2025
As the Legislature works to complete its work on the state’s two-year budget, another deadline is looming. Legislators are required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year—June 30, 2025. If they don’t meet that deadline, the state will begin a partial shutdown.
May 29, 2025
Registration has opened for the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Reflection and Engagement event, featuring best-selling author Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD.
May 29, 2025
The AMA is encouraging physicians to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to revise the reconciliation bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives. While the bill includes language that would stabilize Medicare physician payments, it also threatens to cripple Medicaid and CHIP.