Rachel Jensen, AIA associate counsel, says AIA believes the guidelines provide a means to establish, evaluate and fund prescription drug monitoring programs; create evidence-based prescribing standards; promote education of physicians and the public; and encourage prevention and treatment.

“We feel that these are all crucial tools in combating opioid abuse,” she says.

However, Jensen adds that the reporting guidelines contained in the document are overly restrictive, do not allow for likely technological innovation and do not encompass the dispensing prescriber.

Vermont Rep. Bill Botzow, who heads the NCOIL Workers' Compensation Insurance Committee, defended the resolution, saying it is designed to be a framework against which states may compare, expand and enhance their own requirements.

Botzow says the best-practices guidelines “will evolve and expand over time” in order to respond to state trends and needs.

The Association of California Insurance Companies said in a statement Tuesday that the high cost of opioid use continues to be a major cost driver in dealing with workers' compensation insurance claims.

A recent study unveiled at a life insurance settlement conference said opioid use is now affecting mortality in the U.S.

AIA's Jensen says opioid abuse “continues to grow at an alarming rate in the United States and action is needed to combat what has now become a health, economic and societal problem.”

The NCOIL best practices resolution “will provide important guidance by highlighting approaches that have proven to be effective strategies to combat opioid abuse,” added Frank O'Brien, vice president, state government relations for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

In general, the NCOIL best practices address how to:

• Establish, evaluate and fund prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) that require real-time reporting.
• Create strong evidence-based prescribing standards that recognize “one-size-does-not-fit-all” and that crack down on “pill mill” pain clinics.
• Promote enhanced and effective education of physicians and the public, including opportunities for safe drug disposal.
• Pursue options for encouraging treatment and prevention, including use of certain drug treatments and of drug courts.

Botzow says, “States struggling with the opioid epidemic now have a clear, common-sense checklist to use when developing their own standards. So many of us know someone affected by opioid abuse.”

He calls it “a personal effort for us as individuals and a general effort as policymakers to protect our constituents.”