Bills dealing with opioid crisis making their way through Wisconsin legislature

MADISON, Wis. (WKBT)- Two bills are making their way through the Wisconsin legislature that deal with the state’s opioid epidemic.

The first would allow for reimbursement under Medicaid for Pure Recovery Coaches. These are people who work with those struggling with addiction, talk about shared experiences and help them get on the road to recovery.

The second would ensure the state’s Precription Drug Monitoring Program will continue for at least another 5 years.

The program allows those who prescribe prescription painkillers to go into a database and make sure people aren’t going from doctor to doctor shopping for opioids.

Since it went online in 2014, there had been around 230,000 inquiries. Since 2018, that number jumped to more than 7-million.

“What that means is, we’ve got less opioids out on the streets, doctors are doing a much better job of using this database to ensure we don’t overprescribe so we just want to make sure this continues,” said Republican State Senator Patrick Testin.

If the bills pass the State Senate, they’ll move on to Governor Ever’s desk for approval.

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