{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2C373107-AB93-434B-99C9-93CDA93B147F", "Johnson Urges Obama Administration to Finalize Rule Combating Opioid Epidemic, Implement PROP Act", "2016-11-09", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "WI", "Ron Johnson", "J000293", "www.ronjohnson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, urged the Obama administration last week to finalize a proposed rule that implements measures against opioid abuse that Johnson and others sought to enact into law.\r\nJohnson sent a letter to Andrew Slavitt, Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on Friday urging the agency to finalize its rule to remove pain management questions from hospital payment calculations. Today, pain management questions on patient surveys are factored into Medicare reimbursement calculations, which can serves\u00a0as an incentive for the overprescription of opioids.\r\nIn April 2016, Johnson, joined by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), \u00a0introduced S. 2758, the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) Act, which prohibits pain management questions on patient surveys from being factored into Medicare reimbursement calculations, to help address the issue of opioid overprescription. \u00a0In July, CMS proposed a rule that\u00a0would\u00a0effectively implement the PROP Act.\u00a0\r\n\u201cI write regarding a proposed rule by CMS to remove the pain management dimension from the HCAHPS survey for the hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. I support this proposal, and I write to highlight the numerous other comments that were filed in this proceeding also supporting such an approach,\u201d Johnson wrote in the letter. \u201cGiven the importance of this rule in stemming the tide of opioid abuse in Wisconsin and across the country and the overwhelming support for the change among doctors, administrators, and patients, I respectfully urge you to implement the rule as soon as possible and provide the Committee with regular briefings on your progress.\u201d\r\nIn the letter, Johnson highlighted numerous comments filed in support of implementing the PROP Act.\u00a0 \u201cAs one pain management physician pointed out, these questions \u2018absolutely result[] in increased narcotic prescribing in the inpatient and outpatient setting, and also contributes to higher rates of adverse patient events due to narcotics.\u2019 A nurse of 21 years elaborated: \u2018Physicians will give pain meds to patients so they don\u2019t receive negative patient satisfaction scores.\u00a0 Their pay is often directly related to that scoring system.\u00a0 Our nation has raised a whole new generation of people who expect a pill to fix them.\u2019\u00a0 Similarly, a neurosurgeon wrote \u2018we need to treat our patients\u2019 pain, but within reason.\u2019\u00a0 Finally, a hospitalist explained that these questions, \u2018led to increased opiate prescribing at our facility and inappropriate prescribing at that.\u2019\u00a0 This commenter went on to explain: \u2018The number of times I have heard from physicians at not just our facility but other facilities throughout the city, that they feel forced into prescribing opiates in spite of their better judgment due to patient satisfaction surveys is astounding.\u2019\u00a0\r\nThe letter can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2C373107-AB93-434B-99C9-93CDA93B147F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9092828258872032, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}