{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-kuster-applauds-hhs-decision-to-implement-kuster-bill-to", "Congresswoman Kuster Applauds HHS Decision to Implement Kuster Bill to Reform Prescribing Practices", "2016-07-06", "2016", "2016-07", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC\u00a0\u2013 This afternoon, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) applauded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for implementing measures she and her Republican colleague from West Virginia, Alex Mooney, first put forth in their Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) Act (H.R. 4499).\u00a0 The bill, which had 43 bipartisan cosponsors, would fix a glitch in the Affordable Care Act that indirectly incentivizes doctors to prescribe more opioid pain medication than necessary, and Congresswoman Kuster has been pushing the White House to take immediate action to make these changes.\u00a0\n\u201cPrescription drugs play an enormous role in the heroin epidemic; far too many individuals struggling with addiction were first introduced to their drug of choice through legally-prescribed medication. That\u2019s why it\u2019s imperative that we take steps to reform prescribing practices to safeguard our communities,\u201d said Congresswoman Kuster. \u201cOne of the most egregious examples of this is a legislative glitch that links Medicare reimbursement rates to a patient\u2019s reported pain level, which could inadvertently incentivize doctors to prescribe more pain medication than may be necessary to improve their level of reimbursement. I was proud to join with my colleague from West Virginia to help introduce legislation to undo this glitch, and I urged the White House to take immediate steps to do the same. I applaud the White House and HHS for following our lead and taking steps today to undo this completely unnecessary and harmful policy.\u201d\n\u201cThe Department of Health and Human Services announced that they are implementing the important policy changes contained in the PROP Act. Since I first introduced it in February, I have been calling for Congress to pass my common sense, bipartisan legislation, which puts doctors, not the federal government, in control of opioid prescribing decisions. This change in policy is an important part of the fight against opioid abuse. I would like to thank all 43 cosponsors of my bill in the House and Sen. Johnson and Sen. Manchin for introducing companion legislation in the Senate in our successful effort to help put an end to opioid abuse,\u201d said Rep. Alex Mooney.\nStudies have shown that many individuals struggling with addiction to opioids and heroin were first started on the path to addiction after becoming dependent on prescription drugs. A provision in the Affordable Care Act links some types of payment for doctors (Medicare reimbursement rates) to the self-assessed pain levels of the doctors\u2019 patients. Such linkage can lead to over-prescribing opioids when other options might be available. The PROP Act would remove this clause, and Kuster has discussed this issue with Administration officials to ask for their support in unlinking the payment rates from pain level surveys.\u00a0 Despite this important action by the Department of Health and Human Services, Reps. Kuster and Mooney will continue to work to codify this important legislation into law.\nAdditional information about the Administration\u2019s announcement today can be found here.\nKuster has helped lead the fight to address the heroin and opioid crisis at the federal level and in New Hampshire, and she has been an outspoken advocate for the need to support medical, law enforcement, treatment, and recovery efforts. Kuster has met with medical experts across the state and attended ride-alongs with law enforcement officials in Keene, Nashua, and Franklin, providing her with a direct look at the challenges facing communities. She continues to hold a series of regional briefings around the district to ensure the voices of local stakeholders and affected community members are heard. As the cofounder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, she was instrumental in the fight to pass 18 bills in the House to address the opioid crisis, and in recognition of her leadership on this issue Kuster was recently appointed to the conference committee tasked with producing the final version of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which will combine these 18 House bills with a Senate counterpart.\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 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": ["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-kuster-applauds-hhs-decision-to-implement-kuster-bill-to"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7233410142362118, "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"}