The importance of addressing the nation’s drug epidemic cannot be understated. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that opioid-related drug overdoses in 2018 caused over 115 deaths per day. This is to say nothing of the economic burden caused by opioid abuse, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates could be as much as $78.5 billion a year. In light of these human and economic costs, on Oct. 24, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law the bipartisan Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, or SUPPORT Act. The act is intended to “reduce access to the supply of opioids by expanding access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services.”

As counsel for various health care providers throughout the country, our firm regularly represents clinical laboratories and treatment facilities involved in disputes with private health insurers and government-sponsored health care programs. Based on our experience, we expect that some of the act’s provisions, however well-founded, may have unintended consequences that could actually frustrate its goal of combating the opioid epidemic.