States Team Up to Fight Drug Epidemic

Attorneys general from 35 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are urging health insurers to review their policies for pain management treatment to spark higher use of alternatives to opioid prescriptions. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Monday announced the bipartisan coalition’s efforts in the ongoing fight to end opioid addiction. Morrisey says that the coalition wants health insurers to avoid contributing unintentionally to the deadly problem. Other co-sponsors of the effort are attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah and Virginia. West Virginia has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States at 41.5 per 100,000 residents — more than twice the national average.