WASHINGTON — The government’s employee health plan will tighten its rules for covering prescription opioid painkillers starting this fall, the Trump administration said Monday.
The announcement by a senior administration official was part of a White House drug policy briefing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under the media coverage rules established for the event.
The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program is the world’s largest job-based health plan, covering an estimated 9 million people, including workers, retirees and family members. Patients dealing with intractable pain from diseases such as cancer will still be able to get opioid painkillers, but the new policy is geared to preventing over-prescribing to people who might just need the drugs for a short period of time.
I’m a patient with chronic pain and heart problems. I’ve got degenerative discs,and spondylosis. It already costs me to much financially to see my doctor every 2 months. And also to pay for my prescriptions. Without them, I wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed every day. I’m already taking an urinalysis test everytime I see my pain and spine doctor. So if a law passes that makes me only get a 7 day prescription at a time….I’ll literally be housebound and probably bed bound too! This is taking away from the people who are actually going through the right processes! And I now regret voting for a President who is taking away our human rights!
How did they separate the deaths from prescription drugs from illegal drugs? Since I have been told that autopsies do not separate out, or know if the medication is street or prescribed, or even what kind of opioid it is!
Although the efforts and results provided by President Trump’s administration have been tremendously helpful in saving lives, we need not to forget the unique health needs of each patient. We cannot make standard rules for all. Instead, we can place restrictions with the possibility of exceptions and in-depth monitoring.
I must have missed ” the efforts and results provided by President Trump’s administration have been tremendously helpful in saving lives”.
What have they factually done?
How ironic, our govt limits opioid prescriptions yet we have stores FULL of ALCOHOL & CIGARETTES. And what are Chronic Pain Patients supposed to do now that we’ve been stripped of the only medicine that worked allowing us any quality of life?? Gonna be LOTS more people applying for Disability…….