Merkley Introduces Bill for Opioid Treatment Surge

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of new data showing record number of opioid overdose deaths, Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley today introduced the Opioid Treatment Surge Act to fund a big increase in treatment capacity funded by imposing fees on the drug companies that created the opioid crisis.

“Drug companies flooded the streets with massive quantities of opioids to enrich themselves while a generation of Americans got hooked,” Merkley said. “It is time for those companies to commit a portion of those profits to dramatically increase treatment capacity to address this crisis.

“I have heard heart-wrenching stories from Oregonians who have lost loved ones after a prescription for an injury or treatment turned into an addiction,” Merkley continued. “This addiction is tough enough to kick in the best of circumstances, but too often when people are looking for treatment it’s not available. An enormous spike in addictions requires an enormous spike in treatment capacity, and it’s only right that the companies that profited creating the problem help pay for the solutions.”

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdoses killed more than 70,000 Americans in 2017. That record-setting number was largely due to a staggering 45 percent increase in deaths involving opioids. In 2013, about 3,000 deaths were associated with opioids. In 2017, about 28,000 people died because of an opioid overdose.

Drug companies irresponsibly fueled the opioid epidemic with overprescribing and aggressive marketing tactics. Merkley’s Opioid Treatment Surge Act would require those same drug companies to pay for additional treatment to address this crisis.

The bill would establish a $2 billion per year treatment surge for the next ten years, paid for by a fee on opioid manufacturers. The companies would pay each year’s assessment in proportion to their portion of overall opioid sales since 1999—the year the opioid crisis slowly began to build. The companies that manufactured the most opioids would pay the highest portion of the annual fee.

The bill provides exceptions to the fee for opioids used exclusively for the treatment of opioid addiction—as part of a medically assisted treatment effort—or for those used by cancer or hospice patients.

Revenue from the $2 billion fee will go to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, which is distributed to states to pay for with addiction treatment.

Information about how the Opioid Treatment Surge Act would increase funding on a state-by-state basis follows below.