Last week Senators worked out a deal on legislation to address the opioid epidemic, and the compromise bill is expected to come to a vote as early as this week. Once it passes, there will be a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate a compromise between the Senate bill (summary) and the bill that passed the House in June. One significant difference between the bills – the House measure would allow some Medicaid reimbursement for treating adults in “Institutions for Mental Disease” (IMDs), while the Senate bill would not. Specifically, the House bill would lift the current “IMD exclusion” for up to 30 days of treatment per year, until 2023. See The Health 202: Opioid Deal in Senate is Rare Bipartisan Win (Washington Post, 9/7/18).
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