Veterans need access to safer painkillers to prevent opioid addiction | Commentary
Our health care system shouldn’t let America’s heroes fall into addiction.
But today, the brave Kansans who have served our country are frequently exposed to prescription opioids to manage their pain, because they don’t have the same access to non-opioid pain management options as Medicare beneficiaries.
This puts thousands of Kansas veterans at risk for abusing or misusing these drugs.
Drug overdose deaths increased by 42% in our state from 2020 to 2021, and opioids were involved in the overwhelming majority of those tragedies.
A year ago, federal lawmakers passed legislation to expand access to safe, FDA-approved non-opioids for Medicare beneficiaries to help prevent addiction before it starts.
Unfortunately, this legislation did not afford these same options to those with veterans’ health benefits. Congress must change that to protect veterans from the harms of opioid addiction.
I understand the challenges our heroes face when they come home.
Every day, I counsel and support Kansas veterans and their families and frequently hear of their plight.
Consider two facts:
First, the trauma these men and women experience overseas makes them more susceptible to a variety of mental health conditions, including potential opioid use disorder.
Second, two-thirds of veterans experience pain, but opioids are frequently their only option — something I learned working with the VA Wichita Health Care system.
That means opioids are the first-line therapy for individuals at a heightened risk for addiction, despite the latest guidance from the CDC that states that non-opioid options are just as effective as opioids for acute pain.
The consequences are severe: Veterans are twice as likely to die from accidental overdose compared to the general U.S. population, according to the former Veterans Affairs secretary.
When we’re protecting veterans, we’re protecting Kansans.
Nearly 1 in 4 Kansans between the ages of 17 and 60 is a veteran.
In rural parts of Kansas, it’s common for veterans and other individuals to drive several hours to find professional help for a substance use disorder, and there are often long wait periods for care.
Medication-assisted treatment can be lifesaving for those already battling addiction, but not everyone can afford to travel long distances to see a provider regularly.
The harms of addiction are not isolated to those struggling with substance use. Addiction brings stress, sadness, and pain to family and loved ones.
For decades, we’ve neglected a key strategy in our efforts to combat the opioid addiction crisis among our veterans: prevention.
Nearly half of combat wounded veterans report misusing prescription opioids. That’s a troubling fact, given that Kansas’ opioid dispensing rate is nearly 40% higher than the national average.
Congress made non-opioids more accessible through Medicare when it passed the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation Act (NOPAIN Act) last year. Still, those options aren’t yet extended to our veterans receiving care at the VA.
Congress must now act again, to prevent addiction before it starts by making non-opioid pain management options available to veterans and their providers nationwide, including our nearly 200,000 veterans in Kansas.
As ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Sen. Jerry Moran plays a key role in ensuring our health care system is working for our veterans.
This is my message to Sen. Moran: advance legislation to expand access to non-opioid pain management options for our nation’s veterans.
Kansas’ heroes should return home to a health care system responsive to advances in non-addictive therapies and not to the incredible risk of prioritizing opioids over non-opioid options.
We can’t let another year go by without protecting those who laid their lives on the line for us from the harms of opioid addiction.
Sen. Moran, use your platform to expand access to non-opioids for our veterans.
This story was originally published December 3, 2023 at 5:00 AM.