By EMS1 Staff
HARTFORD, Conn. — An insurance company is working to fight the opioid crisis by waiving the co-pay fee for naloxone prescriptions.
WTVR reported that Aetna will not charge some of its customers for naloxone prescriptions.
Aetna’s chief medical officer Harold Paz said that while naloxone is available without a prescription in most states, some doctors will prescribe the drug to patients they believe are at risk of overdosing.
The waived co-pay, which is typically around $30 to $40 for Aetna customers, only applies to those who get healthcare through their employer.
Aetna also plans to limit the amount of opioids prescribed to commercial members to seven days, citing a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said people who were prescribed opioids for more than eight days had a 13.5 percent chance of becoming addicted a year later.