S moke S ignals
APRIL 15, 2016
Obama administration announces
help to combat prescription drug
abuse and heroin use epidemic
On Oct. 21, 2015, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum
to federal departments and agencies directing two important steps to
combat the prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic:
• Prescriber Training: First, to help ensure that health care
professionals who prescribe opioids are properly trained in opioid
prescribing and to establish the federal government as a model, the
memorandum requires federal departments and agencies to provide
training on the prescribing of these medications to federal health
care professionals who prescribe controlled substances as part of
their federal responsibilities.
• Improving Access to Treatment: Second, to improve access to
treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use, the mem-
orandum directs federal departments and agencies that directly
provide, contract to provide, reimburse for or otherwise facilitate
access to health benefits, to conduct a review to identify barriers to
medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders and develop
action plans to address these barriers.
More Americans die every year from drug overdoses than they do in
motor vehicle crashes and the majority of those overdoses involve pre-
scription medications. Health care providers wrote 259 million prescrip-
tions for opioid pain medications in 2012 – enough for every American
adult to have a bottle of pills.
Opioids are a class of prescription pain medications that includes hy-
drocodone, oxycodone, morphine and methadone. Heroin belongs to the
same class of drugs, and four in five heroin users started out by misusing
prescription opioid pain medications.
In 2010, President Obama released his first National Drug Control
Strategy, which emphasized the need for action to address opioid use
disorders and overdoses while ensuring that individuals with pain re-
ceive safe, effective treatment. Since then, the Obama administration
has supported and expanded community-based efforts to prevent drug
use, pursue “smart on crime” approaches to drug enforcement, improve
prescribing practices for pain medication, increase access to treatment,
work to reduce overdose deaths and support the millions of Americans
in recovery.
The most recent data show that the rate of overdoses involving pre-
scription pain medication is leveling off, although it remains at an un-
acceptably high level. But the dramatic rise in heroin-related overdoses,
which nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013, shows the opioid crisis
is far from over.
Additional factions announced on Oct. 21 included:
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will invest $8.5
million on the development of tools and resources to help inform
prescribers about appropriate opioid prescribing; track data on
prescribing trends; research, develop and evaluate clinical quality
improvement measures and programs on opioid prescribing; and
improve public understanding of the risks and benefits of opioid use.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also launched
HHS.gov/opioids as a one-stop federal resource with tools and
information for families, health care providers, law enforcement
and other stakeholders on prescription drug abuse and heroin use
prevention, treatment and response.
Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center
Lab/X-ray hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday:
8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. – closed 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. – closed 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Health & Wellness Center Entrance
Reminder: The drive-through entrance at the Health & Wellness
Center is for loading and unloading only. The entrance was built
with our Elders and those with mobility issues and their ease of ac-
cess in mind. If you are coming to the center to pick up prescriptions,
please park in one of our regular parking spaces.
Thank you,
Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center Administration
21
Important Skookum information
Letters have gone out seeking information and documentation on
primary health insurance coverage to Tribal members who do not have
other primary coverage information available in the Skookum Health
Assistance Program (SHAP) information system.
Requests for this information will continue on an annual basis.
If you have received a letter, please respond to the request or call
with questions. SHAP is not insurance. It is a health assistance
program and payer of last resort for Tribal members without primary
health insurance coverage.
We realize this is an inconvenience, however, in order to make SHAP
sustainable for generations to come, we need everyone’s cooperation.
We appreciate and welcome your questions.
Thank you,
Tresa Mercier
Contact information:
tresa.mercier@grandronder.org or 503-879-2008 –
Skookum Health Assistance Program manager
barbara.steere@grandronde.org or 503-879-2487 –
Tribal Member Health Care specialist
loretta.meneley@grandronde.org or 503879-1359 –
Certified Application assister
or call toll free at 800-775-0095
State-Sponsored Health Care
Coverage Recertification
If you receive information from your state-sponsored health care coverage
notifying you of recertification, it is very important that you recertify. If
you do not recertify, you risk a lapse in your coverage.
The Skookum Health Assistance Program is a payer of last resort. If you
have or are eligible for any other coverage, including local, state, federal
or private health insurance at a small cost to you, we strongly encourage
you to apply and use it as primary coverage. If you are eligible for cover-
age at no cost to you, you will be required to apply and use it as primary
coverage before Skookum will be able to pay.
If you apply for your state’s coverage or coverage through the federally
facilitated health insurance marketplace and are not eligible, you will need
to send documentation of ineligibility to the Save Our Skookum team. If
you apply and are eligible, we will need a copy of any insurance cards to
coordinate payment with the Skookum Health Assistance Program.
If you have questions, please contact:
• Barbara Steere at 503-879-2487 or barbara.steere@grandronde.org
• Tresa Mercier at 503-879-2008 or tresa.mercier@grandronde.org
• Loretta Meneley at 503-879-1359 or Loretta.meneley@grandronde.org
• Melody Baker at 503-879-2011 or melody.baker@grandronde.org
• Tauni McCammon at 503-879-1406 or tauni.mccammon@grandronde.org
• Erica Mercier at 503-879-2080 or erica.mercier@grandronde.org
Community Health Program
Medical Transport
Services
Medical transportation
services are available to
Tribal members within
the six-county service
area when an alternate
means of transportation
is not available. Advance
notice required.
Please call 503-879-2078
to schedule a reservation.