Nation’s Healthcare Leaders Applaud Congress for Action to Address America’s Opioid Crisis

WASHINGTON – Leaders from all sectors of American healthcare today praised Congress for the development of a bipartisan legislative package, which could go to President Trump for his signature as early as next week, to address America’s opioid addiction crisis.

The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), comprised of chief executives from major companies from multiple health sectors, applauded the legislation as an important step in curbing and treating opioid misuse and addiction.

“What is important about this legislation is that it recognizes the multi-faceted nature of the opioid addiction challenge,” said HLC president Mary R. Grealy. “There is no single solution to this complex problem, and so Congress has chosen to address a broad range of solutions including improving access to medication assisted treatment, development of non-opioid pain management alternatives, and advancing progress on e-prescribing for controlled substances.”

HLC convened a broad-based group of healthcare providers, payers, manufacturers, and addiction rehabilitation specialists to develop a package of proposed legislative, regulatory and private sector solutions to address the opioid crisis. That work, “A Roadmap for Action”, can be found here.

Ms. Grealy said private sector health leaders would continue to work with lawmakers on innovative solutions to curb opioid misuse, while still ensuring that patients suffering acute and chronic pain have the tools they need to manage their conditions.