Expand Access to Safe, Non-Opioid Options Now
The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation Act (“NOPAIN Act”) was passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 that was signed into law in December 2022. The legislation will ensure safe, non-addictive therapies are widely available to the tens of millions of Americans who undergo an outpatient surgical procedure every year.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must implement the NOPAIN Act as soon as possible. Lives hang in the balance.
The NOPAIN Act Will Expand Access to Non-Opioids for Millions
The NOPAIN Act will ensure patients and their providers have greater choices in their pain management and support broader efforts to combat the deadly effects of the opioid epidemic in our country.
- The NOPAIN Act expands patient and provider access to FDA-approved non-opioids in all outpatient surgical settings beginning in 2025 by providing separate Medicare reimbursement for non-opioid therapies.
- The NOPAIN Act requires a report to Congress on limitations, gaps, barriers to access, or deficits in Medicare coverage or reimbursement for therapeutic services.
By the Numbers: The Devastating Impact of the Opioid Addiction Crisis
- Three out of every 4 deaths from a drug-related overdose in 2022 involved opioids.
- Over 500,000 people died from an opioid-related overdose from 1999 to 2020.
- The opioid epidemic cost the US nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone – up 37% from 2017.
Finish the Fight: CMS Must Implement of the NOPAIN Act in 2024
CMS successfully expanded access to non-opioids in 2019 for the ambulatory surgery center setting. Now, CMS must extend that access to all patients in the outpatient setting no later than 2024 to:
- Reduce the number of prescription opioid pills available for diversion in communities
- Reduce the number of individuals misusing opioids
- Reduce the number of opioid-related drug overdoses
Eleven governors representing 60 million Americans, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, thousands of American citizens, and leading advocacy groups have called on CMS to make non-opioid options available to patients as soon as possible.