MPS Support for H.R. 6082

The MPS assisted with APA efforts to address the opioid crisis by signing on to a November 2018 letter of support for H.R. 6082, the Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety (OPPS) Act.  H.R. 6082 passed the House of Representatives earlier in the year in a 357-57 bipartisan vote, but awaits Senate approval before it can become law. The letter encourages Senate leadership to bring the OPPS Act to the Senate floor for a vote during the lame-duck session.

If enacted, the bill will help improve patient safety and care coordination for patients with substance use disorder by aligning an out-of-date federal law, 42 CFR Part 2, with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). This step to modernize the sharing of records will help ensure health care providers have appropriate access to a patient’s entire medical history for treatment, payment and health care operations. The bill also includes several consumer protection provisions to ensure records under Part 2 are kept confidential.