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Utah House pauses opioid-insurance bill after lawmakers seek more stakeholder coordination
Summary
Lawmakers circled House Bill 90, which would require insurers to adopt policies encouraging non-narcotic pain treatments and other safeguards, after debate over insurer jurisdiction, ERISA plans and potential inconsistent rules across carriers. Sponsor Representative Ward emphasized patient safety and CDC-derived guidance.
Representative Ryan D. Ward, sponsor of House Bill 90, opened floor debate by saying Utah faces an opioid epidemic and described the measure as a set of insurer-policy requirements drawn from CDC and state prescribing guidelines designed to reduce high-risk prescribing and encourage alternatives to opioids.
Ward said Utah has the fourth-highest opioid overdose death rate and argued HB 90 would ask insurers to adopt policies in five areas: facilitate non-narcotic treatments for chronic pain; adopt medication-assisted treatment policies for opioid use disorder; set co-prescribing rules for sedating drugs; address high-dose opioid prescribing in primary care; and try to prevent unintentional transition from…
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