Senators have reached a deal on a bipartisan package to address the opioid crisis, paving the way for a vote next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday. The agreement comes after weeks of slowed negotiations between lawmakers over hot-button provisions like requiring Medicaid to cover treatment at more inpatient facilities and loosening privacy restrictions for substance-abuse patients’ medical records. It would authorize new funding for states to fight drug addiction, expand access to medication-assisted treatment, grant the National Institutes of Health more authority to research and develop non-opioid pain therapies, and require the U.S. Postal Service to crack down on shipments of fentanyl. It would also reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy. (Brianna Ehley and Darius Tahir, Politico)
