Passage of the federal Alternatives to PAIN Act would protect seniors

Every legislator in Minnesota has received calls from constituents concerned about the ongoing opioid crisis. The Sahan Journal recently covered the opioid crisis in Minnesota, validating the concerns we’ve received from our constituents. This crisis isn’t unique to any state, district, city or neighborhood — and it is certainly far too prevalent in mine.

As we search for potential legislative solutions in the coming session, I’ve kept my eye on a piece of federal legislation that could be a lifeline for seniors. The Alternatives to Prevent Addiction in the Nation (PAIN) Act is a bipartisan bill that would increase access for seniors to non-opioid pain management options in Medicare Part D. Not only would this bill create access to non-addictive opioid alternatives, it would also ensure that non-opioids would be the same price as a traditional opioid prescription.

In everyday conversation, the term opioids is used to describe both illicitly manufactured drugs and prescribed pain relievers like hydrocodone. While opioids can be useful in treating persistent or severe pain, prescription opioids have proven to be a devastating plague on our nation because they are highly addictive. According to the American Medical Association, an estimated 3% to 19% of people who take prescription pain medications develop an addiction to them.

While seniors aren’t often associated with the opioid crisis, the group has been significantly impacted. In 2021, over one million seniors were diagnosed with an opioid use disorder and 50,000 seniors suffered an opioid overdose from prescription opioids, illicit opioids or both. Furthermore, overdose deaths among seniors have soared by more than 60% in the last decade.

One of the features of the Alternatives to PAIN Act is that a concept known as step therapy would not apply to pain treatments. Step therapy mandates that before your plan will cover a certain drug, you must first try a different or less expensive drug that treats your condition. Given how cheap and accessible opioids are, it is necessary to ensure that they aren’t the default or cheaper option for pain treatment when safer options are available.

It’s not just seniors who would benefit from the proposed law. On July 1, the Moran Company released a report suggesting that the treatment of Medicare beneficiaries with opioid use disorder costs $33 billion. By passing this legislation and preventing opioid addiction before it can begin, Congress will save American taxpayers billions each year. While this certainly isn’t my primary reason for supporting the bill, it is important to point out how this legislation will benefit everyone.

I am proud of the work the Minnesota Legislature and the state attorney general’s office have done and continue to do to curb the opioid crisis. Before I became a legislator, the attorney general’s office sued pharmaceutical distributors and opioid manufacturers to the tune of $300 million in Minnesota over the next 18 years. The office continues to sue corporations that perpetrated the mass marketing of these harmful drugs. This funding has given us the opportunity to address the crisis right here in Minnesota at the county level, especially the parts of the state that have been hit hardest.

And just last year I was proud to support a bill that mandated schools, law enforcement, corrections, substance use disorder treatment programs and sober homes carry naloxone to reduce opioid deaths across the state. These are important steps in protecting Minnesotans from opioids.

Our work is far from complete in addressing the opioid crisis as both a state and a nation. As we continue to find innovative solutions to curb the opioid crisis in St. Paul, our Minnesota congressional delegation should work to ensure that this bill is signed into law. While there is certainly more work we can do to curtail our nation’s opioid epidemic, our congressional delegation should jump at the opportunity to pass common sense legislation such as The Alternatives to PAIN Act to protect Minnesota seniors.

Samakab Hussein represents District 65A in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

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