(Washington, D.C.) — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) 2019 Medicare Advantage and Part D Advance Notice Part II and Draft Call Letter:

“By proposing to allow plans to implement a seven-day limit on certain opioids, CMS is taking an important step in the fight against opioid abuse. The next even more impactful step is for Congress to pass legislation (H.R. 3528, the ‘Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act’) requiring e-prescribing of controlled substances in Medicare.

PCMA looks forward to working with Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on these and other policy solutions to address the opioid crisis.”

Last year, PCMA submitted a set of policy solutions on the opioid crisis to Commissioner Gottlieb, including:

• Require E-prescribing (e-Rx) for Controlled Substances
• Seven-Day Opioid Prescription Limits for Acute Pain
• Endorse the CDC’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
• Improve and Integrate State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) and Require Prescribers to Check PDMPs
• Give Medicare Part D Plans More Tools to Fight Pharmacy Opioid Fraud
• Achieve Timely and Flexible Implementation of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) Lock-In