Rep. Nygren applauds federal efforts to fight opioid abuse and addiction

Madison – On Monday, State Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette) released the following statement touting the positive efforts taken by the Federal Government to promote prescribing best practices:

“I am proud of the bipartisan efforts being taken at the federal level to address issues of opioid abuse and addiction in our country. I especially want to thank Sen. Ron Johnson for his leadership on this issue, authoring the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) Act.”

As part of the PROP Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) no longer require a patient’s level of pain to be factored into Medicare reimbursement calculations.

“With the elimination of the pain scale, prescribers no longer have a financial incentive to overprescribe potentially dangerous pain medications to their patients. This change will directly reduce the number of people who have access to, abuse, and become addicted to prescription opioids.

“Again, I’m proud of the efforts being taken by the Federal Government to combat opioid abuse and addiction and I look forward to continuing my partnership with leaders like Sen. Ron Johnson.”

As the upcoming legislative session approaches, Rep. Nygren plans to continue his work with law enforcement, the medical community, legislators on both sides of the aisle, and recovery advocates statewide to address issues of drug abuse and addiction by further building upon Wisconsin’s HOPE Agenda.