Insurers should cover overdose meds, General Assembly panel says

Virginia should require health insurers to cover medications that prevent opioid overdoses, the General Assembly's Joint Commission on Health Care says.

The commission, which makes recommendations for legislation to the General Assembly, voted unanimously last Wednesday to support a measure directing health insurers to cover at least one nasal spray that stops and reverses overdoses.

The measure would also say insurers could not require a copayment for that medication.

"This could eliminate barriers to accessing opioid antagonists through insurance coverage," said Jen Piver-Renna, the commission's deputy director.

State Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, said she would introduce the measure.

Piver-Renna said Virginia's efforts to address illicit fentanyl use have generally been successful but that some gaps in the state's effort to help high-need groups remain.

Two areas for further focus are services for pregnant women and for inmates in jails and prisons, she said.

"Even with all the progress that's been made on getting the overdose rate down, there's still an addiction crisis," said Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, the commission's chair.

To help close gaps, the commission is recommending legislation to add three more sites for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services' Project Link, which provides intensive case management, home visiting, child care and transportation support for women seeking treatment for addiction.

Doing this would boost the number of Project Link programs to 17.

In addition, the commission says the Department of Health should take the lead in Virginia's efforts to address opioid addiction and suggested a budget amendment to direct $5.1 million a year to the department for that effort.

The commission said the Health Department and the agency that runs state prisons should work together to develop guidelines that would allow some individuals with criminal records to work as peer support specialists — the individuals who use their own experience recovering from addiction to help others tackle the challenges of getting and staying clean.

For people in jail, the commission wants to expand the state's Jail Mental Health Pilot Program and to work on ways to expand staffing of health care workers in jails.

The commission, like the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Virginia Housing Commission, the Virginia Code Commission and the Behavioral Health Commission, is charged with studying issues and making recommendations on legislation to the General Assembly. Typically, these recommendations pass the legislature fairly easily.