Legislation aims to limit over-prescription of pain medications under Workers’ Comp system

Sens. Don White (R-41st District) and Kim Ward (R-39th District) introduced legislation last week that seeks to require prescription guidelines and effective utilization reviews under Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation system, limiting the over-prescription of pain medications.

“Pennsylvania is in the midst of an opioid epidemic and I was disappointed that the Governor vetoed the bill (Senate Bill 936) the legislature placed on his desk that addressed several existing problem with our Worker’s Comp system – including the over-prescribing of opioids,” White, chairman of the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee, said. “That said, I was somewhat heartened that the Governor does recognize that there is a significant problem, one that he wanted to address with an executive order. That’s a step in the right direction, but swift legislative action is needed to provide appropriate statuary authorization to implement the reforms the Governor suggested.”

Guidelines set in place through the legislation would be created by the Department of Labor and Industry in consultation with the departments of Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs as well as the appropriate licensing boards.

“This bill provides a permanency for prescribing guidelines that will be much harder to reverse in the future than an Executive Order. It will also legislate specific time frames and actions to be adhered to,” Ward, chair of the Senate Labor & Industry Committee, said. “This crisis is not a partisan issue. The Governor has made it clear that he wants to address opioid prescription issues in the system and I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner in the Legislature, and with Governor Wolf, to make that happen.”

White said that the prescribing guidelines required by the bill would apply to all pain medication prescribed under Workers’ Comp as limiting guidelines to opioids only “is misguided and will not fully address the problem.”