New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a letter to insurers today, urging them to review their coverage and payment policies related to opioid use and revise them to encourage healthcare providers to prioritize non-opioid pain management options over opioids. The letter was signed by 37 State Attorneys General(AGs) and sent to both Associations represented health insurance companies, as well as major health insurers.
The letter informed health insurers that the AGs plan to “initiate a dialogue concerning your members’ incentive structures in an effort to identify those practices that are conducive to these efforts and those that are not” and that they will use “all the powers available to our individual offices to ameliorate the problems caused by the over-prescription of opioids.” Read a copy of the letter.