Alexander: Obama Administration Takes "East Tennessee Common Sense Advice," Will Remove Pain Management Questions from Medicare Payment Calculations

Statement

Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today commended U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell for heeding "East Tennessee common-sense advice" to remove from Medicare payment calculations pain management questions said to contribute to the overprescribing of opioids.

"Opioid abuse kills more Tennesseans than car accidents or gun shots each year, so this is a big win for the state of Tennessee and State Representative Bill Dunn, who deserves great credit for bringing this issue to my attention at our Knoxville roundtable last September," said Senator Alexander. "These survey questions had the unintended consequence of actually encouraging the overprescribing of painkilling opioids and I'm glad to see the administration correct this mistake by removing them from Medicare payment calculations."

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