The National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals continues its three-part webinar series “Opioids in the Life of the MSA”on June 21 starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.
The series explores the issue of long-term opioid use for noncancerous pain in workers’ compensation MSAs and how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are addressing it. Part one discussed how applying evidence-based medicine improves MSA outcomes.
Part two focuses on current policy and federal efforts to manage the opioid epidemic. Presenters are Mary Nix, health science administrator, National Guidelines Clearinghouse, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Pamela Schweitzer, assistant surgeon general and chief pharmacist officer, United States Public Health Service, along with the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute’s Policy Analyst Vennela Thumula and Economist Dongchun Wang. The 90-minute webinar covers:
- WCRI’s new research on interstate variations in opioid usage;
- Real CMS-approved MSAs allocating for high opioid dosages;
- Applying evidence-based guidelines to policy;
“In light of the recent evidence-based studies demonstrating the long-term impact of opioid prescriptions for chronic, non-cancer pain, our industry needs to come together to ensure we neither condone nor institutionalize the problem,” said NAMSAP President Gary Patureau. “All the players in the MSA process have an obligation to aged and disabled injured persons to work toward healthier, safer and more effective patient outcomes.”
NAMSAP has recommended that CMS adopt limits on opioids in MSAs based on opioid guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control.
“We regularly triage cases where an injured employee takes both short- and long-acting opioids for chronic, non-cancer pain,” said Rita Wilson, NAMSAP board member and CEO of Tower MSA Partners. “We hope this webinar series will heighten awareness among policy makers of inappropriate opioid use in workers’ compensation and encourage CMS to align its WCMSA review policies with evidence-based medicine.”
There is a $63 webinar fee for NAMSAP members and an $83 fee for non-members. For more information, please see http://www.namsap.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=820324.
About NAMSAP
Headquartered in Illinois in NAMSAP is the only non-profit association exclusively addressing the issues and challenges of the Medicare Secondary Statutes and its impact on workers’ compensation and liability settlements. Its members are comprised of MSA providers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators. Contact NAMSAP at 855-677-2776 or via www.namsap.org.
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Media Contacts: Helen Patterson, 813-690-4787; helen@kingknight.com
Gary Patureau, President, NAMSAP & Exec. Director, Louisiana Association of Self Insured Employers; 225-338-0705; gary@lasie.org
