Support the NOPAIN Act to improve access to non-opioid pain management

More than 153 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed in 2019, almost one prescription for every two Americans. While most people who take prescription opioids will not develop addiction, patients and providers should have the option of alternative pain management strategies.

Unused prescription opioids can end up in the wrong hands and be misused, increasing the risk for addiction and overdose. Those in recovery from addiction also face an increased risk of relapse and overdose when prescribed opioids.

Non-opioid pain management options exist, but access and availability are limited. Under current law, hospitals receive the same payment from Medicare regardless of whether a provider prescribes an opioid or non-opioid. Therefore, hospitals largely rely on opioids dispensed at a pharmacy after discharge at little or no cost to the hospital.

The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act (S. 586 / H.R. 3259) would help address this barrier to non-opioid pain management. It would direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide separate Medicare reimbursement for non-opioid treatments used to manage pain in the hospital outpatient department and ambulatory surgery center settings.

Send a letter to your members of Congress today. Urge them to cosponsor the NOPAIN Act to help ensure that safe, non-addictive therapies are widely available to the millions of Americans who undergo outpatient surgery every year and reduce unnecessary exposure to opioids and the likelihood of opioid misuse or addiction.