WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema cosponsored the bipartisan Opioid Workforce Act, legislation that addresses Arizona’s shortage of pain and addiction specialists by increasing the number of medical resident training positions.
“Increasing the number of residency positions dedicated to training new pain and addiction specialists ensures Arizonans struggling with addiction will be able to get help quickly and affordably,” said Sinema.
The Sinema-backed bill adds an additional 1,000 medical resident training positions to support the training of residents in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine. These pain and addiction specialists can help Arizona patients manage their chronic pain without becoming dependent on opioid medication.
Programs offering a pain medicine residency program, like the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, could qualify for Medicare’s Graduate Medical Education reimbursements.
Sinema’s backing of the bipartisan Opioid Workforce Act is part of her work in the Senate to solve the provider shortage in Arizona and ensure patients suffering from chronic pain and struggling with addiction can see a specialist quickly and affordably. Sinema also supports the bipartisan Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, which increases the number of Graduate Medical Education slots nationwide, and the bipartisan Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act, which allows physical therapists helping patients manage chronic pain to qualify for the National Health Service Corps.
