A group of mostly Democratic lawmakers has introduced a bill taxing patients who rely on certain types of prescription painkiller to help fund addiction treatment. Some details:
A group of U.S. Senators has introduced legislation that would establish a federal tax on all opioid pain medication. If approved, it would be the first federal tax on a prescription drug levied directly on consumers.
The bill, called the Budgeting for Opiod Addiction Treatment Act, would create a one cent fee on each milligram of an active opioid ingredient in pain medication. … Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Angus King (I-ME), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) are co-sponsoring the bill ...
This could provide badly needed funds for treating dependencies caused by legally prescribed drugs. Some patients, including those in terminal stages of disease or other with other issues, would be able to recoup the expense, and those with comprehensive insurance would still probably pay the same co-pay. But the bill could represent a substantial added expense for other patients:
"I don't understand how, in a world where we are getting upset about the 'tampon tax' we find it perfectly socially acceptable to tax chronic pain patients to pay for addiction treatment," said Amanda Siebe, who suffers from Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) … "With less than 5% of chronic pain patients becoming addicted to opiates, this leaves the other 95%, who are often some of the poorest in America and have nothing to do with addiction or addiction treatment, to pick up the tab ...
The proposed tax is one cent per milligram. Which means, depending on how the bill (Full text) is finally written and assuming it ever passes, it might penalize patients who use less powerful painkillers, including some that are considered less addictive. The newer opiod Tramadol comes in 50 to 100 mg doses and there’s a 300 mg extended release version. Hydrocodone and oxycodone are most often prescribed in doses ranging from 5 to 15 mg. Do the math.