FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |March 18, 2020
Delaware State Senate Majority Caucus
Contact: Scott Goss (302) 744-4180, or
Dylan McDowell (302) 744-4282
Delaware State Senate Majority Caucus
Contact: Scott Goss (302) 744-4180, or
Dylan McDowell (302) 744-4282
Opioid impact fee collects close to $500,000 for addiction treatment and prevention services in 1Q20
DOVER – A new opioid impact fee created by the Delaware General Assembly in 2019 has generated more than a half million dollars in additional funding for addiction treatment and prevention in just its first few months of existence.
“I’m absolutely thrilled the nation’s first, successful opioid impact fee is working as designed,” said Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 34. “The pharmaceutical companies that created the addiction crisis are finally being held accountable and soon we will be using the money we collect to fund new tools and resources capable of breaking the cycle of abuse, addiction and death that has gripped this state for too long.”
Delaware is one of the top 20 states in opioid prescriptions per capita and currently leads the nation when it comes to the prescription rate for high-dose opioids.
Delaware also ranks as having the fifth most overdose deaths per capita. Every year since 2009, more Delawareans also have been killed from drug overdoses than motor vehicle crashes, including 400 in 2019 alone.
To combat those disturbing trends, Sen. Hansen championed legislation to charge drug manufacturers a small fee based on the strength of the opioids they sell in Delaware.
Passed by the General Assembly last spring, Senate Bill 34 created a fee that charges drug makers one penny for every morphine milligram equivalent (MME) of any brand-name opioid dispensed in the state and one-quarter center for every MME of their generic opioids sold here. Companies that refuse to pay the fee can be charged a penalty of up to $100 a day or 10 percent of the total impact fee due, whichever is greater.
The proceeds from the fee are then held in a special Prescription Opioid Impact Fund that can only be used for the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction, such as subsidies for enrollment in residential programs or sober living facilities, the purchase and distribution of the overdose-reversing drug NARCAN or grants for research on effective treatment options.
The law also specifies that the Fund cannot be used in place of existing state funding for addictions treatment and prevention services.
After a brief window to implement the new law, Delaware began assessing the new opioid impact fee on January 7, 2020. As of last week, the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation had so far sent invoices to 41 companies for a total of $547,369.00 with $483,113.00 received in payment to date for third-quarter 2019 invoices. Fourth-quarter invoices to 42 companies for a total of $528,104.22 were sent earlier this month.
“We are pleased to receive additional funds to support harm reduction and treatment among the thousands of Delawareans suffering from substance use disorder,” said Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker. “But the level of funding we are receiving makes it even more clear that we have additional work to do to reduce prescribing of both high-dose and long-acting opioid medications in the medical community in order to combat this crisis in the long-term.”
DHSS will now work with the Behavioral Health Consortium, the Addiction Action Committee and the Overdose System of Care to develop recommendations for how the funds will be spent. The first round of proposals is expected to be approved later this year.
“Battling the opioid crisis here in Delaware requires an all-hands-on-deck approach from our lawmakers, our state agencies, advocates and our communities,” said. Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who leads the Behavioral Health Consortium. “This incredibly innovative bill is quickly proving to be a valuable tool in that fight. The funds it is collecting will help to save lives and break the cycle of addiction for hundreds of people in our state”
“I’m absolutely thrilled the nation’s first, successful opioid impact fee is working as designed,” said Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 34. “The pharmaceutical companies that created the addiction crisis are finally being held accountable and soon we will be using the money we collect to fund new tools and resources capable of breaking the cycle of abuse, addiction and death that has gripped this state for too long.”
Delaware is one of the top 20 states in opioid prescriptions per capita and currently leads the nation when it comes to the prescription rate for high-dose opioids.
Delaware also ranks as having the fifth most overdose deaths per capita. Every year since 2009, more Delawareans also have been killed from drug overdoses than motor vehicle crashes, including 400 in 2019 alone.
To combat those disturbing trends, Sen. Hansen championed legislation to charge drug manufacturers a small fee based on the strength of the opioids they sell in Delaware.
Passed by the General Assembly last spring, Senate Bill 34 created a fee that charges drug makers one penny for every morphine milligram equivalent (MME) of any brand-name opioid dispensed in the state and one-quarter center for every MME of their generic opioids sold here. Companies that refuse to pay the fee can be charged a penalty of up to $100 a day or 10 percent of the total impact fee due, whichever is greater.
The proceeds from the fee are then held in a special Prescription Opioid Impact Fund that can only be used for the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction, such as subsidies for enrollment in residential programs or sober living facilities, the purchase and distribution of the overdose-reversing drug NARCAN or grants for research on effective treatment options.
The law also specifies that the Fund cannot be used in place of existing state funding for addictions treatment and prevention services.
After a brief window to implement the new law, Delaware began assessing the new opioid impact fee on January 7, 2020. As of last week, the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation had so far sent invoices to 41 companies for a total of $547,369.00 with $483,113.00 received in payment to date for third-quarter 2019 invoices. Fourth-quarter invoices to 42 companies for a total of $528,104.22 were sent earlier this month.
“We are pleased to receive additional funds to support harm reduction and treatment among the thousands of Delawareans suffering from substance use disorder,” said Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker. “But the level of funding we are receiving makes it even more clear that we have additional work to do to reduce prescribing of both high-dose and long-acting opioid medications in the medical community in order to combat this crisis in the long-term.”
DHSS will now work with the Behavioral Health Consortium, the Addiction Action Committee and the Overdose System of Care to develop recommendations for how the funds will be spent. The first round of proposals is expected to be approved later this year.
“Battling the opioid crisis here in Delaware requires an all-hands-on-deck approach from our lawmakers, our state agencies, advocates and our communities,” said. Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who leads the Behavioral Health Consortium. “This incredibly innovative bill is quickly proving to be a valuable tool in that fight. The funds it is collecting will help to save lives and break the cycle of addiction for hundreds of people in our state”
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Press Contacts
Scott Goss
Communications Director
(302) 744-4180
scott.goss@delaware.gov
Dylan McDowell
Communications Assistant
(302) 744-4282
dylan.mcdowell@delaware.gov
Scott Goss
Communications Director
(302) 744-4180
scott.goss@delaware.gov
Dylan McDowell
Communications Assistant
(302) 744-4282
dylan.mcdowell@delaware.gov